Grief and Loss Counseling in Crosspointe, VA.

Grief & Loss For those who grieve, I offer support and encouragement for healing from their loss. Working through shock, numbness, denial, and disbelief is common to the grieving process, as well as emotions such as anger, guilt, and depression that may emerge. I support my clients in working through their grief, which helps them avoid physical or psychological symptoms. Readjustment and transformation develop gradually, as a new life emerges.

Some individuals enter psychotherapy without serious mental health symptoms but are managing a difficult life transition like a divorce, family changes, death/bereavement, moving, processing identity changes, adoption, job changes and medical issues. These individuals are often looking for a place to process this transition and to gain support for the life change. Psychotherapy is not only for a psychiatric diagnosis, like depression or anxiety, some enter therapy to process transitions so that they may better manage their life and achieve their goals. Some people dread the life transition they are facing or fear change; therapy helps these people to feel enriched by the life event and/or develop an enhanced sense of meaning or purpose as a result....(view profile to read more)

You've lost a loved one suddenly and now you've been jolted into a life you never thought you'd have. You feel you're too young for this to have happened. You can't stop picturing your loved one in pain and just want the suffering to stop. You may also be having harsh thoughts about yourself such as "I should've done something to stop this" or "My life will have no meaning ever again". During our work together, we will use EMDR Therapy to reprocess the disturbing thoughts and images to they not longer affect you so strongly in present day life. We'll also process the negative beliefs you hold about yourself and replace them with more positive beliefs.

When someone lost the loved one, he/she will experience different feelings, such as sad, angry, lonely, confused, and guilty. When these strong emotions all come together at the same time, one can be overwhelmed. Hence, grief counseling can help. Everyone goes through birth, aging, sickness, and death, and grief is a normal process of human’s life. Grief counseling gives you an opportunity to find a better way to memorize the loved one while moving forward your life.

We experience loss around many different events in our life. Loss of a loved one (including a companion animal), a job, our hopes and dreams, and financial security are some life changing circumstances that bring about grief and loss. I help to create a space where it feels safe to talk about the many different feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that can arise. You don’t have to go through this alone. Contact me and start getting relief during a difficult time.

Working with a grieving person is deep and delicate work, as all the other losses prior to the present one arise. There is a non-linear process that takes time, and the willingness to honor the grieving process. In addition to talk therapy, I often use Brainspotting (https://brainspotting.pro/) or Biofield tuning (https://biofieldtuning.com/) to help the person release the emotions from the body. Ultimately, grieving is about acceptance and love.

Learn how to work with you grief due to loss. Understand that this is your journey to go through in the best way for yourself. Acquire emotional support; develop awareness and understanding; and utilize techniques that help you get through your time of sorrow in your own time. There is no defined time for grieving; only and acknowledgement and learning of how to live with it.

One's grief and loss is very important for you to define with help and then work out each area until you have learned how to see the flags and cope with the truth. The fiction must be discovered from the truth, otherwise one will stay trapped. It's ok to cycle between the different stages of grief as long as you do not get stuck. It is a major key for me to listen to your pain. I have a free e-book called "Don't Waste Your Pain" Go download it; it's free to you.

Everyone reacts to death differently. Some become numb and will eventually disconnect from friends. Despair sets in as the reality of the loss settles. The grieving process can be long and isolating. My objective is to counsel the soul with methods generated by the Spirit of God. So that the process is in reliance to Him. Receiving reassurance and feeling understood is also part of the counseling process and will make the recovery process more complete during one of life's most challenging times. Even Jesus wept. It is okay to do so. It is both natural and biblical to grieve. It is part of the healing process that I look forward to helping you through. You are not alone.

Though I don't pathologies grief and loss, I help to prevent it from continuing to burden your life by (1) allowing you to freely talk about the deceased; (2) assisting with distinguishing grief from a traumatic event, and (3) assist you in dealing with any guilt and effectively organize your grief. We support persons encountering grief, adjusting to loss, in need of bereavement care, as well as seeking support while facing an anticipated loss.

Experiencing loss is part of every life and learning to grieve our losses effectively is a necessary pathway to growth. Whether it is the death of a loved one, sickness, aging, financial setback or simply the loss of a dream, no one is untouched by the pain of life turning out differently than expected. My approach in therapy is to provide a safe and compassionate place for you to journey through the stages of grief resulting in new hope for the future. I believe that accepting our losses and learning to grieve well is a powerful tool for emotional and spiritual growth.

When a loved one exits your life, chaos enters. People tell you they know how you feel, but you know the truth: the grief response is unique to each individual. No one can crawl into your head and truly get your experience of loss. And reconciling your life with a loved one's death is overwhelming. Yet it can be done. It won't be easy, but change is possible. I learned this truth from my own experience of grief that began with the unexpected death of my husband. If my thoughts resonate with you, contact me. We can discuss your concerns and determine if I'm a good fit. You don't have to walk this road of loss alone.

Grief and loss can require therapy because they frequently involve trauma--death, divorce, moves, job losses. They lead to a feeling of loss-of-control in many areas of life, even when the control you had is actually still there. In therapy, we work through the loss and accompanying grief, and find ways to express your feelings while still recognizing the trauma--and the reasons for the loss. We create coping mechanisms and turn negative ideas into positive ones.

Grief is an intense feeling of sadness or sorrow. You can try to suppress your grief but can’t avoid it forever. We are here to help you face it head-on with bereavement therapy. Understanding the different types of grief is important so we’re better prepared and so we can be supportive of others who are going through it. It's your battle, but you don't need to fight alone. We are here to help you with grief counseling.

Grief encompasses a broad range of feelings and behaviors that are common after a loss. Sadness is the most common feeling . It is common and expected to experience sadness if you have lost someone you love. One of the most important factors in healing is having support. Even if you are not normally comfortable talking about your feelings under normal circumstance, it is important to have some place where you can express them when your grieving. We can help you gain an understanding of your feelings and provide you coping strategies for dealing with the loss.

The grieving process is intensely personal and intensely painful. It can feel as if the world has gone crazy and is spinning away without you. How do you make sense of anything in the face of such pain? The simplest tasks can feel impossible. Going to the grocery store, visiting the bank, walking the dog, and even making your morning coffee can trigger a heart-wrenching ache. With mindfulness and support, you CAN begin to heal and weave your loss into the tapestry of your life. You will laugh again, dream again, and love again.

Grief and loss can be so difficult to manage and come out of nowhere. When we work together, we will gently learn the about the grief journey you are experiencing. As we learn your life experiences, we may find that some of the distress is rooted in early childhood trauma and attachment wounding. We will welcome all parts of yourself and learn about the challenging messages you may have grown up with that manifested into the distress you feel today. Disordered eating can be a messenger, an alarm telling you that it is time to heal experiences from earlier in life. I am trained in using EMDR, Emotion Focused Therapy and Expressive Arts to help you become your best self.

Life can present you with difficult situations which are hard to process and move past. These challenges are not on your timeline and affect everything. Having worked in many healthcare settings, I am familiar navigating life-changing events and grief. I understand the territory of encountering loss, coping with trauma, the complexity of the medical system and living with illness. These issues can have ripple effects on your relationships, sense of self and perceptions of the world. I know how complex things can get, and I will support you during this process.

Our society doesn't always do such a great job understanding grief and loss...well-meaning friends and family just want you to "move on" and "be okay". When I work with clients around grief and loss, I try to educate them on the wave-like quality of grief; that it comes in waves, and ebbs and flows. Just because it comes back occasionally doesn't mean you're not healing - it takes time, patience and understanding, but you can heal.

Grief and loss are some of the most difficult issues we can encounter. The feelings can be very intense and feel as though they will never end. All feelings have a beginning, a middle, and an end. As we move through the stages of grief, we can feel confused about what is normal and what is to be expected. Seeking help will allow you to move through your issues more quickly and effectively. I will assist you in moving through the grief process towards healing and expanded growth.

Grief and loss are part of life. Everyone determined to live an examined life must accept the losses they have encountered. However, some individuals have had early losses, exceeding amounts of loss, or must face loss that's come about unexpectedly and/or in a traumatic manner. While I do not limit my practice to grief and loss, these topics are routinely addressed in my practice through helping individuals integrate their experience into their personal narrative.

I help my clients process many kinds of loss, both real (death, separation, miscarriage) and ambiguous (dementia, missing persons, addictions), through their relationships and context. My training as a couple and family therapist helps me think about grief and loss through the lens of family stress. Empathic listening helps me understand your experience, and we work together to heal your grief and sadness at your own pace.

Everyone faces grief and loss, whether it’s over a romantic relationship or a job ending, a physical health problem, or the death of a loved one. We offer support to face grief, understand it, follow the innate mourning process, and integrate the change into life and your sense of self. We offer a safe place to explore the range of emotions which accompany loss, which really matters when friends and family don’t know how to stay with and witness the pain and sorrow. Grieving has its own demands and pace, and we will stay with you through it.

Grief is a natural reaction to the loss of a relationship. There are many different ways that we can deal with that grief, some helpful and some not. But the ultimate goal is the same...to feel better. I work with my clients to understand the stages of grief, identify their existing social supports, and increase their use of positive coping skills. There is also the desire to get "closure". In terms of relationships, closure refers to letting go in order to move on without the lingering pain of loss. What is required for closure varies depending on the person. It may require redefining oneself or one's future, or examining and changing repeating patterns to move forward in a healthier way.

There is no right way to grieve. Each person and each experience is different. Loss affects even the strongest relationships and people can feel off balance for a long time. Sometimes people feel like they will never be happy again or feel guilty when they do experience a moment of pleasure. We will help you explore where you may be feeling stuck and develop ways to adjust to a new normal.