Grief and Loss Counseling in Rosemead, CA.

Grieving a loss can feel overwhelming and isolating. Whether you are grieving a recent loss or need to process a loss from your past, a safe space to freely express your thoughts and feelings can be healing. Children's response to loss is framed by their developmental capacities. For this reason, children may process a loss and then need to reprocess at a later stage of development. Therapy provides an opportunity for children and adolescents to process their loss in age appropriate ways.

I address grief and loss issues with understanding, validation, and empathy. My deep respect for the fact that it takes time to sufficiently mourn and grieve the loss of what once was is key in working with clients who experience grief and loss. We are all unique, and we grieve in ways that may look different than other's ways. There is no wrong way to experience loss! I model compassion and patience, hoping that in time my clients can experience self-compassion and allow themselves to feel the depths of their feelings without excess shame or self-judgment. I believe that social and cultural factors may also play a role in our grieving process, so I explore those factors in therapy as well.

I cannot make your grief disappear, though I sure wish I could. But I can help you learn to live with your loss, so that day by day you can begin to rebuild, move forward, and of course, honor what you have lost. Many clients come to me with a goal of making the grief go away; they want to fast forward to where they don't feel the pain anymore. Having worked with trauma survivors for so long (and your loss is traumatic for you) I know this approach does not work. Those emotions just get buried and they always come back. In therapy you will learn how to create a safe space to grieve without feeling overwhelmed. You will learn how to find new meaning from your experiences and find peace.

When someone is grieving, it is sometimes difficult to know what to say. People feel awkward and often are reduced to well-meaning platitudes. There is no magic wand to take away the feelings experienced in grief but having a place of safety and honesty can be an important step on the road to restoration. Being able to talk, weep, get angry and feel the feelings is often present in the early stages. The purpose of grief work is not about forgetting remembering with love in spite of the wounds it leaves behind.

Losing someone is profound. Humans do not understand how to process loss. Our brain's do not know how process someone not being there. I can be there with you as you are looking to move forward with your life. Much of the work can involve processing emotion, remembering the important stories and lessons, and then choosing to move in a way that dignifies the loss.

In compassionate surroundings, explore how you can heal in the grief process and honor those you love as an ongoing part of your story. I offer support during many different kinds of loss, knowing each person’s experience is singular and different. Individuals, couples and families go through transitions, loss and change. I can nurture connection and remembrance, listening deeply to what matters most.

Loss in all its forms in an integral facet of life. Most of us have formed deep bonds with spouses, family, and friends, and grieving is both a testimony to the deep importance of those others to us, and part of a difficult, gradual process of letting go. Therapy work includes the honoring of either ended or failed relationships--deaths of many types--and also the grieving of we go through due to illness and aging.. A good therapist-patient relationship deals with numerous such painful "necessary losses", as well with successes in life.

Among the benefits of grief counseling are: normalizing (grief feels strange but it is universal); making meaning (coming to terms with our mortality); and the opportunity to express feelings, safely and in full, about the person who has died. When a client suffers a loss during or prior to treatment, I communicate the message that each of us is entitled to a grief process of our own, with its own tempo, mood, and meaning, all of which fluctuate, often in complex ways. The support of an empathic person can help you walk the painful path that grief puts before you, a path which leads out of grief and back to life.

Everyone's story of grief and loss is unique. There is no such thing as the right way to grieve or the appropriate amount of time to grieve. Most everything people tend to say about grieving and loss is addressing their own discomfort. Grieving does not have to be only about enduring and getting through the pain of loss, it can actually bring forth new meanings, a deeper sense of self and greater connections.

Losing a loved one, including a pet can cause severe pain and suffering. We need to grieve. Sometimes, we need permission or help to allow us to grieve. Therapy gives us the opportunity to share our experiences, remember our loved ones, express our emotions and allow us to let the loved one rest in peace.

Coping with grief and loss is unique to each person and situation. Grief is a natural response to losing someone or something that has meant a great deal to you and been part of your life. Even changes in your health, career, or lifestyle, can cause grief. I approach each case by starting where you are. Although there are different "stages" to working through grief and loss, each person experiences these stages in different ways, durations and may even revisit some of these stages multiple times throughout the process. My goal is to allow you the opportunity to experience each stage at your own pace while focusing on maintaining your health.

We all encounter loss. It's and inescapable part of life. Painful as it can be, how we deal with grief and loss determines how we either thrive or live our lives always feeling the loss that once was. The inability to work through grief or loss keeps us from living fully in the moment. The ability to let go of the things we've lost is crucial to moving on. People who grieve well live well. Those who don't, don't. Feel free to call my office for a free 15 minute telephone consultation at 800-474-1445.

Loss can take different forms, and going through loss is one of life's biggest challenges. I understand this and believe it is essential for those going through a loss to talk about it, feel it, and grieve it. In time, healing will occur but time itself does not heal. I will provide a safe place for you to explore how your loss affects your life and help you to use the resources, time, and tools necessary to not only get through it -- but grow through it -- and survive.