Grief and Loss Counseling in Landover Hills, MD.

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.

The pain of loss can be intense and all-consuming. Sorrow isolates you from others, even from those close to you who are likely also struggling through similar pain. Activities you once found meaningful, probably seem like a distant memory. The grief can make you feel lost and out-of-control. The goal of therapy for grief is to help you rebuild the ability to connect with others, restore purpose, and experience joy, while you transform the pain of loss into treasured memories.

I work closely with you to help you cope with grief and mourning the loss of a loved one, major life changes, and major life disappointments. We often feel alone and sad when we are disappointed by our losses. I will help you to develop a plan to recover move forward toward an inner peace with the past. We will move at your pace and honor your response to your loss.

Each loss is unique and so is the treatment. You may need a witness to tell your story in a safe, respectful place or find strategies to deal with unresolved issues with an important person you lost or a job. I can help you through this by using different strategies, such as, writing unsent letters to the person you lost, visualizing ways of moving on while establishing rituals to maintain good memories, connecting with support groups as needed,etc.

Loss is inevitable. It is the flip side of love and the greatest pain we know. Hearts can break and hearts can heal. We must first accept ALL feelings. We can cultivate gratitude for the gifts our loved one gave us. Sometimes it is also important to acknowledge and learn from the mistakes of the one we have lost., the ways they may have caused pain to themselves and others. If the person has been a large part of our daily living, it is as if we need to recreate our lives bringing new resources into the emptiness. The waves of extreme pain become less frequent with time. The person's memory remains with us, and their gifts to us can inspire those very strengths in ourselves.

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.

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.

Learning how to healthily grieve is foundational to experiencing peace in the midst of a broken world. We all experience various forms of loss, from the "little" disappointments that we don't even consciously notice, to the catastrophic losses that feel as though they will drown us. We are relational beings who are meant to grieve and work through all of these in the context of relationships. As one who is no stranger to loss, I know how scared we can be to face our grief and loss. And I know the great peace and strength that comes through doing so. I would be honored to guide and walk with you in your grief journey, helping you to eventually find new life on the other side of your loss.

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.

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.

Handling loss sometimes feels impossible. Learning to live without the lost loved one oftentimes leads to feelings of hopelessness and fear of the unknown. I work with my clients to celebrate the ones we have lost as well as find ways to continue. I make sure that we don't go too fast in trying to "get over" the pain of loss. It's important to both celebrate our loved ones while we learn to move on without them.

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.

Robyn Brickel and Brickel & Associates as a practice, treat grief and loss from a trauma-informed, systems model of care, as they treat all mental health issues. Understanding that people process grief differently and that losses can trigger other feelings, we aim to provide a safe space for clients to have their emotions held and witnessed by another and help hold themselves with compassion and kindness as they work through the stages of grief.