Grief and Loss Counseling in North Bergen, NJ.

I can help you manage grief and loss in a variety of ways. I proivide a safe and sympathetic space for you to express your feelings I offer tools of hypnosis, meditation, EMDr that can help soothe you and speed up the healing process. I encourage you to manage the pain in a way that leads to growth.

Each individual's response to grief and loss is unique, and their response to different losses will have similarities and differences. There are several different periods of grief/loss in which people may seek help (before the loss, at the time of the loss, during the first few months after the loss and during later times). Some people seek to find ways that they can recognize and cope with the loss, some are concerned about how they are reacting, some seek help in dealing with others affected (especially children). It is possible to move through periods of grief and loss back to a sense of wholeness and peace. Christopher can help you through that process.

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.

A unique aspect of my psychotherapy practice is my readiness and willingness to discuss the issues of death and mortality. Life is precious and we deserve to live our lives fully, but death is an unavoidable fact of our lives. Many people can recall when they first learned about the fact of mortality in their childhood -- perhaps when a pet died, or we lost a grandparent or family member, or when some tragedy occurred. Witnessing a death or suffering the loss of a loved one can change some people's lives forever. In my practice I support my clients to come to terms with painful losses in their lives, and to regain their ability to live life fully, even in the face of their own mortality.

We all experience different types of losses over the course of our lives: loss of a loved one, of a job, of a role, or of a way of life. Everyone is affected differently by loss - often the same event can have very different meanings for different people. At the Lukin Center, we work with clients who are grieving a loss to help them identify what the loss means for them in order to work through and grow from their grief.

Grieving the loss of loved one can be complicated if our valued identity and/or our equanimity was tied to that person given diffuse boundaries. When we overly depend on people regulate our emotions, self esteem or self confidence, then being without them can leave us angry, bereft, empty, etc. In psychotherapy we can rewrite the specious narrative that you were joined at the hip because you could not survive without that person. By internalizing what is offered by the therapist to enhance your self-reliance, you are then free to come to terms with the reality of loss of your loved one and internalize the relationship that is over. That person can now live on inside of you.

Grief and loss are powerful emotions that can cause daily emotional pain and negative thinking. Grief and loss can inhibit people from taking action and getting what they want out of life. Grief and loss can be short term due to a death, divorce, or loss of a job, friendship, etc. Sometimes these feelings are chronic and began in childhood due to growing up in a dysfunctional family. In Psychotherapy we work on effective tools to help people mourn, let go of the pain and find ways to move on in their lives.

If it is a past loss we will talk about that relationship and what it meant to you, and see how that person affected you in your current life and what he/she meant to you. If it is a current or impending loss, we can focus on day-to-day issues to lessen anxiety, and process how to handle what time is left. Practical issues may be discussed. if you find yourself obsessing we will probably focus on feeling, if you find yourself lost in feeling, we may focus on verbalizing your thoughts and your feelings. If you are overwhelmed by depression and find it difficult to function, I will make recommendations for medications and/or alternative strategies.

Loss of a loved one is an unbearable pain. Therapy can help you process your emotional pain and reduce the time it takes to heal rather than burying the pain only to come out years later. Sometimes letter writing, art therapy, talk therapy, play therapy assist in the grieving process. the heart has a natural process of grieving. Therapy can assist in this natural process.

If you have lost someone close to you through death, relocation or the end of a relationship, and feel isolated and lonely, it takes time and support to gently move forward in life. If you are shy or feel anxiety in social situations it can be hard to reach out for help and create the supportive relationships you need. I can help you move forward, gain a new sense of self worth, and begin to create meaningful nurturing social connections.

I use CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy) approach to work with the grief and loss that you might be going through. As a part of that approach you might be asked to think, talk, sometimes write at home some thoughts and memories that I will ask you about. It will give you a chance to slow down and give attention to grieving the loss of the loved ones. I use specific manual to walk you through this process.

Grief, when it surfaces, is one of the most confusing of human emotions. Together, we will soothingly allow the symptoms to lead us to the heart of the suffering where transformation is possible. If one allows it, there can be a sweetness and comfort in grief resolution. This is accessible as we resolve the barrier of complex feelings, and a part of you comes alive again. It makes sense that grieving enlivens. If there had been no significant bonding in these relationships to begin with, we would not be experiencing their loss as traumatic. While in the resolution process, you may experience a state of openness and vulnerability naturally opening to new learning and corrective experiences.

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.