Grief and Loss Counseling in Rio del Mar, CA.

Grief counseling helps people cope with grief and mourning following the loss of a loved one or due to major life changes that trigger feelings of grief (i.e. job loss or divorce). It provides a space for individuals to work through and process the complex emotions surrounding loss. Healthy grieving results in remembering the loss with a newfound sense of peace, rather than searing pain.

Grief can feel disorienting and heavy, but healing is possible. I use a blend of Solution-Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help clients honor their loss while gently identifying strengths, supports, and next steps. Together, we explore the thoughts and emotions tied to grief, while building tools to manage daily life. Whether you’re mourning a person, relationship, or life change, I offer a grounded space to move forward with compassion, clarity, and purpose.

Grief can be a difficulty beast to manage, a beast which can surface at any moment without warning and often comes in waves. When I’ve been grieving I’ve felt like I was in an emotional pong ball. With the aid of tools like EMDR CBT and guided visualizations I can help you to heal and leave the pain, loss, and grief in the past while holding on to the happy memories. Additionally, I can provide tools, coping skills, and other resources to help you manage this particular issue.

Grief and Loss come in many forms and symptoms can sometimes mimic other issues like depression/anxiety. We can carry grief about many things; the relationships we desperately longed for with our parent, children, partners that never materialized, the betrayal of our bodies as we age or deal with disability, loss of a loved one, pet, or dream. Working through grief is its own very personal journey. My experience working with Bereaved families with Hospice and my own personal losses help inform my approach with clients to deal with their own grief and mourning.

The healing process for grief and loss first begins with allowing your grief to fully be expressed. Within the safety of the therapeutic relationship, you will be accompanied on your journey through mourning the loss of your loved one. Sitting with the emotional pain of grief will support self-expression and meaning making. The grieving process allows for transformation: new awareness of life, reality, interconnectedness, wholeness, and gratitude. Therapy will help you be more fully present in your life and your relationships.

When experiencing a loss, having the support of a compassionate and understanding therapist can be very helpful. I can support you through the difficult experience of grief by helping you gain insight into your unique grief experience, and by supporting you in increasing your access to your own set of internal coping mechanisms and external tools. You deserve compassionate support during this difficult time.

Grief, if left blocked, can be a significant drain on our energy. It is possible (and common) to move at such a fast pace through life that we are completely unaware of unprocessed feelings. When sadness, loss, and regret are identified, expressed, and released we reclaim our vitality and improve self-esteem. Another benefit of this process is improvement in our relationships. I provide a safe, comfortable environment to explore these issues.

Losses from death, miscarriages & abortions, divorce, important relationships, jobs, friends, pets, integrity, independence, are all significant and important to process. Complicated grief requires skill and patience but is possible. Spirituality is an important component of grieving, finalizing and reconciling losses especially the most difficult ones.

Grief and Loss Therapy is one of my specialties. I will help you all the way through, until you can remember your loved one with fond memories. We often get stuck in our grief and can't get to the point of fond memories. I will gently and compassionately guide you through. Just remember, no one grieves in the same way. Anyway you grieve is normal and natural as long as you do it your way.

When we lose someone we love, it feels like we have lost a part of ourselves. Something within us has been torn out, leaving a hole that we easily imagine will never heal. The pain can be profound, the feelings of helplessness, or regret, or guilt overwhelming. Having a partnership where you can talk through these feelings can make a huge difference not only in how quickly and how well you are able to move through the process of grieving, but also how you ultimately are able to frame the experience and your memories of the person lost into the narrative of your own self and life as you move forward. What you carry with you afterward is just as important as surviving the hurt of the loss.

Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D approaches issues of grief & loss through the lens of innovation----instead of growing the same neural networks responsible for the pain in weekly therapy sessions, we reset the brain to move forward quicker and efficiently by working on the stuck limbic system so as to empower the person with more success and traction. For no one wants to stay in a grief mode for too long; but when you don’t include the brain in your work with someone, you risk describing the water to them while they drown and calling it success. Contact Grey Matters International, Inc now at kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

When you lose something or someone important or close to you, it may be difficult to make sense of life or to feel that others can relate to what you are going through. If you need someone to talk to in San Jose, CA about what happened, I am here for you. I understand that sadness is often something that shouldn't be fixed, but embraced. I also specialize in helping people who were hurt or abused by the deceased. Grief and Loss is a painful time of life, one that every human being goes through. You are not alone. I will come alongside you through the anger, loneliness, fear, shock, and panic. In the middle of the grief, the way forward can bring hope, strength, peace and freedom from guilt

In grief and loss therapy with me, you will learn to identify, feel, and let go of past losses so that you can live more fully in the present. By processing unresolved grief, you will be able to achieve more consistent happiness and a deeper level of satisfaction within yourself and in your relationships. Learning with me about your own unique path through the grief process will help you to get more quickly through the experience of loss in the future as well as to do so with more peace. I will also teach you valuable skills so that you can stay more current and comfortable emotionally even after completing therapy. Call me with any questions or to schedule an initial appointment.

Grieving is a very personal experience and we all experience it differently and for different amounts of time. It helps to have someone you can share your experience of confusion, numbness, loss, relief or pain with who won't judge you, or tell you to "get over it." I work with people who are grieving the loss of a spouse, friend, or family member to death, Alzheimer's, chronic pain or addiction. The loss of a child who goes to college, the service, or moves out of the area is a grievous loss that almost no one understand who hasn't experienced it. I listen and we reflect on the times you have lost people and places that were precious to you, and you move towards acceptance, life and hope.

No grief has the same footprint and it is one of the most different emotional experiences to go through. Whether it is a loss of a loved one, a recent breakup, sudden job loss, divorce, a child going off to college, new health conditions or financial changes, I am here to support you as you walk through the experience, and to help you understand your loss, feel witnessed in the process and find new meaning in your experience.

Grief and loss comes in all forms, from the death of a pet, to moving, to the loss of a dream, to the death of a child or spouse, and more. My clients discover grief and loss are a process (which includes: shock/disbelief, anger, blaming, depression/sadness, bargaining, and denial), and how to move through that process to an increased state of acceptance. As their state of acceptance increases, my clients experience an increase in forgiveness, healing, freedom and hope for the present and future. My clients see how they can begin to feel good about their life and future again.

I will have you write a truth letter conveying the unexpressed feelings to your loved one. The Truth LEtter will also be directed to yourself to identify what you think about the loss and the deceased. I also will encourage journaling and use the empty chair technique where you are speaking to the deceased as if s/he is in the room.

Grief can be experienced in many different ways and sometimes the loss felt so strongly that it is helpful to talk to a professional. I offer a safe and comforting space to listen and suggest ways to process and move through grief for adults, teens and children. Making meaning through means of ritual, journaling, art or simply making space are several approaches that I utilize to support my clients during times of loss.

Are you using alcohol, substances, or addictive behaviors to cope with grief and loss? Although they provide relief in the short term, their long-term effects on your relationships and health can make it even more difficult to cope. Through a compassionate non-judgmental approach, I help clients explore their relationship to grief and loss so that they can overcome addictive coping strategies. If you're looking for another way forward, feel free to reach out and we can set up a free consultation to discuss further.

Loss is painful. Some losses hurt, but we're able to move past them. Some losses hit harder and we can get stuck in the sadness or anger or a sense of un-reality. We all experience loss during our lives, and all losses affect our sense of self to some degree. If you are struggling with grief that has knocked you off balance, together we can honor what you lost and discover ways for you to continue forward with a new reality.