Loss and grief are part and parcel of life and will be experienced by everyone at some stage in their lives. Loss does not necessarily mean the loss of a person. It can also mean illness, trauma, redundancy, relationship / friendship break-up, changes in life like retirement, loss of a pet or the loss of something we may have looked forward to.
With the loss of a loved one we experience grief and bereavement which can be very painful. The emotions and feelings may feel as if they will overwhelm us and we will never feel the same again. This is a normal reaction to the loss of someone we love or to the loss of anything significant in our lives. The greater the loss the more intense the feelings of grief will be.
It is commonly accepted that there are 5 stages of grief:
- Denial
- Anger
- Depression
- Bargaining
- Acceptance
However, not everyone will go through those stages and may experience some, all or none of them. If you do experience them, they may not necessarily be in the order stated above which is okay. You may not suffer any of them or only some of them because everyone experiences grief differently. It is unique to every person. Healing happens only very gradually and there is no set time to when that will happen.
Grief is a very personal experience and it is not something like a cut where we can apply a plaster and get on with it. Feeling sad and lonely is a natural reaction to grief and crying is good as it lets out the emotions. Crying does not mean that we are weak. It means we are facing up to the grief and dealing with it. With a loss we also have memories of what may have been a much happier time which must also be taken into account and be part of the grieving process. Counselling can be beneficial in dealing with grief and loss. Cara Counselling is a place of support to help you get back to living a full life again. Together we can explore the grief and help you come to an awareness of how to move on now that life has changed.
