Grief and Loss

Life will never be the same.

We are never prepared for the depth of pain that comes from grieving the loss of a loved one. The pain seems boundless; and the future, however you’re able to fathom it, is bleak and uncertain.

The waves of grief hit hard and take a piece of you with them. People eventually stop coming around or calling after the funeral.

The world moves on around you, but you are stuck in place.

A million emotions pass though you every day.

You struggle with complex feelings of guilt and regret. Sometimes anger consumes you and comes from different, unexplained directions.

Complicated relationships lead to complicated grief. We can grieve what we never had. There’s a new finality to the passing of a relationship we always believed was coming in the future.

You have no doubts about the certainty of the pain you have always experienced, and now is the time to address how it will inform your future. Despite how you may feel, there is time to reach out to me.

Grief is not reserved just for death.

Losses take all forms: divorce, becoming (or not) a parent, break-ups, life transitions, empty nests, retiring – all varieties of loss with arrays of emotion to manage.

Old losses have a way of showing up in new things. This can surprise us, even when we thought we anticipated it coming.

Grief and loss are a normal part of life, so why don’t we talk about it or have better ways to deal with it?

Why does it feel necessary to isolate our inner conflict?

Some days we’re able to fake it, but we know that comes at a cost.

We either bleed in, or we bleed out.

Together, we will help you find a foothold in your grief journey.

You can learn to ride the waves of grief.

In grief, we do not finish with something and move on to something new, never to return. Grief work is a continuous line where we often revisit feelings, thoughts, and beliefs but with new perspectives.

We first learn to accept the reality of the loss, which is a lot easier said than done. You cognitively understand that you have lost someone or something. But there are many parts of you that don’t get it.

You’ll be packing for a vacation and think to yourself, “I can’t wait to go fishing with my dad” only to realize that your “vacation self” didn’t get the memo that your father has died.

We learn to experience the pain of grief. We can sometimes have a million emotions in one day. In the beginning of most losses, this is not a choice. We will help normalize this experience of acute grieving and tolerate these painful emotions. We learn to ride the waves of grief onto the shore knowing that there will be a reprieve.

We learn to adjust to the new world in which the loss has taken place. With death, this means we learn how to cook for one and acknowledge the pain that comes with this activity. We must look at each ripple of loss and learn how to accept this new reality.

We learn how to find an enduring connection with the loss. In the depths of grief, we often only connect with the loss through pain. The goal here is to find ways to connect not just through pain. We find ways to incorporate the loss in our daily life through tangible and abstract ways.

Tell me about your loss.

I understand how to listen to your loss and how it circles in and out, overwhelming your mind. We will find where you are stuck in the grieving process and move you through it.

And you can learn to feel joy again. Your new normal is in front of you.

Let me help. Call (202) 656-8515 today.