bereavement counselling

 Grief is a natural and necessary reaction to a loss – be it through death or other incidents such as illnesses, accidents, job loss or separations. With our mourning we honour what we lost and learn to adapt to that loss.

Grief needs space and time and the permission to be lived through with all its facets – including those feelings that may be regarded as inappropriate by us or others.

Bereavement counselling may help you in different situations. Some bereaved are overwhelmed by the sheer force of their emotions and try to protect themselves by denying, distorting or minimising their feelings. But this only postpones the problems.

Some types of loss may complicate the mourning, such as sudden or traumatic deaths (e.g. suicide). Also, the people around us can block our grief or interfere with it, by making comments such as 'you should be over it by now', by not recognising or accepting the meaning of that particular loss for us or by signalling that we are grieving 'too much' or 'too little'.

Sometimes a formerly unresolved grief resurfaces years or even decades later and confuses us with its seemingly disproportionate intensity. Maybe you simply feel alone with your feelings and wish to be accompanied through your grief.

My aim is to provide a safe space where you can experience and express your grief the way you need. (Re)discovering your strengths and resources will be part of this process.

Different grief models can sometimes give helpful orientation in a time of emotional chaos. However, they should not be seen as prescriptions about how someone should grieve.

Your individual grief will depend on your relationship to who or what you lost, and the circumstances and type of your loss. Every grief will be unique.