Grief and Loss Counseling in Darien, IL.

Healing in the grief process looks different for everyone and I can provide a space for you to feel and share what you need to. I will provide support and empathetic listening to remind you that you are not alone during this difficult time. We can also identify other ways to connect with others and feel supported within your friends and family as well. Although nothing can fix a loss, therapy can be a powerful tool in the process to experience some relief and begin to heal.

There are multiple forms of loss, ranging from lost friendship to to the loss of a loved one, which could be a pet or a person. I would encourage open communication about feelings and strongly believe that an individual's feelings should not be judged or criticized. I would also encourage the individual to allow sufficient time to recover from their loss; there is no "right" amount of time to process a loss.

Grief can come from a death of a loved one, a relationship breakup, losing a job, health changes, pet loss, and many other areas. Losing someone or something you love is a very painful experience. I will help guide you through your grieving in a supportive and understanding way. Grief counseling can help you find your motivation again, improve your sleep, manage any guilt, and learn ways to deal with regret.

I specialize in short-term grief and loss as well as prolonged bereavement. Loss of loved ones, loss of health, a job, survivors' guilt, or any significant loss in life can cause periods of extreme sadness, anger and a myriad of other emotions. I work with my clients to process their loss and move through the adjustment period so as to come to a place of peace and acceptance.

Grieving is a deeply personal process that can bring intense sadness, confusion, or even numbness. I offer a compassionate and safe space to help you process your emotions, honor your loss, and move toward healing—at your own pace. Through support and reflection, you can rediscover meaning, find comfort in memories, and learn to carry your grief in ways that feel manageable and grounded.

Home Psych Services, P.C. offers counseling for Grief and Loss. We understand the loss affects everyone differently. Our goal is to first understand the nature of your grief. We then work with you to develop strategies to gradually work through your feelings of grief making use of cognitive behavioral strategies working toward acceptance and understanding.

Grief counseling applies to many types of loss, not just death. Counseling for loss can be an opportunity to memorialize the person, relationship, or experience you lost. Counseling should include the joy and laughter of the loss as well as the sadness and pain. Uncomplicated grief counseling can be short-term, 1-6 sessions, and is covered by insurance in many cases.

Grief looks different on everyone. Losing someone or something has different implications for everyone and we can experience a variety of emotions. Grief can happen not only after a death but also due to a breakup, friendships ending, moving, change in identity such as due to an illness, and more. Let’s explore what grief looks like for YOU and the emotions that come with it. I am here to meet you where you are at and at your pace. It’s not about “moving on”. It’s about learning what life looks like now and what is in your control. It’s about finding healing but healing is not the absence of pain.

Grief and loss is like a deep well where pain lives. Counseling is a process that allows you to talk about your loved one or the loss you've experienced in an on-going way until healing begins to occur. This is not a conversation you have with friends or family very often as most people don't know how to handle your grief or loss. I've worked with many grieving individuals and somehow we find a way to find life and live it fully again.

"As for grief, you'll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you're drowning, with wreckage all around you. You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it's some physical thing. Maybe it's a happy memory. Maybe it's a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float. Stay alive." Grief and loss comes in all forms - from job loss to death of a loved one. Emotional based therapy will help you cope with the loss and adjust to a "new normal". I'll help you explore the loss, your grieving process, and help you find closure.

Relying on personal (death of spouse/other family members/close friends) as well as professional training and experience, Grief Therapy is one of my specialties, including therapy for those affected by a loved one's suicide. Your grief journey is unique, and each loss is different. Therapy can help you to successfully navigate your way through the grief process and to learn that much of what you feel is a normal, natural part of the painful and often difficult grief process.

Times of grief are some of the most painful experiences we have as human beings. But these times are also wonderful in the sense that this is part of our humanity - it's painful because of our ability and capacity to love. With love comes loss - and with loss comes great emotional pain. But the grief journey can also be a time of amazing reflection, growth, and renewal. Sometimes grief is fresh and sometimes grief is deep-seated from events long past. Either way, learning to not fear your grief but to be able to sit with it and use it as a tool to transform yourself is a powerful benefit of this great emotional pain.

Processing a loss or trauma occurs in many ways, starting with talking. Losses by death of family and friends are likely our greatest losses in life. Maybe you didn't consider retirement, moving away, a serious heath diagnosis, or the end of a longterm friendship as a loss. Loss is actually uncontrollable change. Talking about how you are feeling is how you begin to let go. Time does not really heal all wounds. It is what you do with time that heals the wound.