Grief and Loss Counseling in Plandome Heights, NY.

Experiencing loss can be one of the most devastating parts of the human experience . Pain, shock, denial, anger, depression, rage, and acceptance are some emotions you may experience. I am here to sit with you and hold your sadness, as you process whatever it is that you are mourning; the death of a loved on, the end of a love relationship, position or change in family. Grieving is a necessary step in processing what has just happened, in effectively processing, understanding and slowly rebuilding your life, adjusted to the changes. It would be my honor to join you on your journey in healing and rebuilding your new reality, with inner strength, health and courage.

Any time we, or people close to us change, there is a loss; a loss of the familiar, perhaps a loss of what was known and comfortable. When you experience disappointment and need to change your expectations, there is a grief and loss process as well. Changing expectations is hard. The upside, though, is that doing so usually brings more contentment and peace, both for yourself and with others. I work to help people learn about their losses and find and define new expectations for their reality that will bring more joy to their lives.

The benefit of my approach for someone who is grieving and who has suffered a great loss is that I actively teach you how to accept things that cannot be changed. Only by achieving real acceptance can the individual carry on in life despite the loss. Acceptance in REBT does not mean liking or even denying the loss. Acceptance in REBT means to acknowledge that a great loss has occurred and to feel healthy negative feelings of sadness, even great sadness. The benefit that results is that one can still have some degree of enjoyment in life. One can function without guilt and do well in life despite having suffered a great loss. This is leverage over the loss, the thing that cannot be changed.

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.

Often clients reach out to a psychotherapist when there is a death or separation in a relationship. Chris provides Grief and Loss counseling and Psychotherapy where empathy and caring help clients get emotional closure to help them move forward. A sudden death and loss can causes a person to have increased anxiety and depression and limit functioning. Chris has worked with numerous clients to heal and move forward through effective counseling and psychotherapy in New York. Clients benefit from talking out their feelings where I help them get closure and provide the skills to move on and enjoy life again.

Losing someone or something you love is profoundly painful. One of the greatest myths we hear is that “time heals all wounds.” In reality, time often deepens the ache unless we give ourselves permission to grieve. Healing requires space to mourn, honor what has been lost, and gently begin to carry it in a new way. It is my privilege to walk alongside clients as they move through grief toward healing, meaning, and peace.

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 is a natural response to a loss, and loss can come in many forms: loss of a relationship, friendship, health, job, financial stability, safety; death of a loved one or even a pet; or a loved one’s serious illness. It is normal to feel sad, numb, angry, even guilty, following a loss, but these feelings should become less intense over time. In therapy, together we can explore if the pain and feelings surrounding your loss are so constant and severe that they keep you from resuming your life, if you feel “stuck” in an intense state of morning and how to overcome and learn to live again.

When I very young I lost my fiancée. I went about life as if nothing had happened until it caught up to me. I was trying to open a door with a key and it wouldn't work. I found myself crying and felt out of control. This happened because I didn't want to grieve. What I learned is you can't skip this process. It will catch up to you at the strangest times. I can walk you through this without bottoming out. Ignoring it and avoiding it doesn't work

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 dont 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

Grief and loss is, unfortunately, a normal part of living. There is no single "correct" way to grieve: different cultures and even individuals from the same culture grieve differently. The only consistent feature is that grief takes time. The most effective thing anyone can do for someone grieving is to be there—to listen, to empathize, to walk along with the grief. There is no "fixing" grief. But counseling can help prevent normal grief from developing into major depression or other mental health conditions.

I teach my clients about the stages of grief. This often which helps to normalize what they are experiencing. It can be so overwhelming and isolating to lose someone you love. I give clients a safe place to explore all of their emotions around their loss. I work to help clients feeling grounded again and take the steps necessary to find a new normal.