Grief and Loss Counseling in Chapel Hill, TN.

Grief is experienced as the result of a loss. It could be experienced in the death of someone you love, or in the loss of income or a job. It could be experienced in the loss of a relationship through divorce or estrangement from a child. There are no boundaries for experiencing grief, just as there is no set timeline for grief to be complete. A person may or may not see clearly defined stages of grief. The truth is everyone grieves and everyone grieves differently. There is help with the grieving process. Take the first step toward healing today.

Grief and loss is an intensely individual experience. Everyone deals with it in a different way. And it is not limited to the loss of a loved one. Grief and loss can manifest in many ways: a marital break-up, the loss of a job or career, a missed vision of how life should have been, and even in something like the foreclosure of a home and the heartache that it can bring, to name a few. Even though each of us copes with these things in different ways. there are relatively healthy and unhealthy ways in which we cope. My goal is to assist you in embracing your loss, working through the aftermath, and moving forward in healthy and productive ways.

Clients benefit from a compassionate relationship where they have a context to explore the impact of the inevitable losses that happen to each of us eventually. Grieving is difficult for everyone, but it does not have to be debilitating. In fact, losses and grieving can be gentle (though sometimes relentless) teachers to form our characters into more loving, peaceful and happy people who journey gracefully with our own souls and those with whom we relate.

Everyone grieves differently. Grief and loss isn't just about death and dying. There are many types of losses and grief shows up in our lives in ways that might surprise you or catch you off guard. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to grieve. Let's work together to find healthy ways to move through grief so that the pain is manageable, comfortable, and you feel you can move through it and keep on with the other aspects of your life that are important as well.

Loss is one of the hardest things people can experience as so many emotions can be tied together making it almost unrecognizable to process. One of the first things to do is recognize that it's ok to feel those different emotions and to work through them, processing them each fully. Unfortunately, sometimes the main drive is to push things away and not experience them fully. Breaking things down can allow for it to be processed but not be overwhelmed.

We often think of grief as related to losing a loved one to death, but it can also be the result of losing a home, a job, a community, a relationship, a future hope, a pet. There are so many forms of loss we experience, and grieving those losses is an important and healthy task that helps us integrate those losses into our experience. Grieving is the way we express our love for our loved one in their absence. Grieving is a letting go process and helps us makes room for what is to come. In our work together, you will experience a safe space to process your loss and work through the impact of it as you adjust to a new normal.

You don't "get over" a profound loss. Whether it is a loss from death or divorce, a deep loss sets you on a path requiring understanding, healing, and growth. As a therapist and pastor I've counseled with hundreds of adults who have lost a loved one. As a minister to single & single again adults and as a therapist for 30 years I've counseled with many hundreds of separated and divorced adults. I am one of the featured experts in DivorceCare's (www.DivorceCare.org) support group resource materials which are used all over the world. A grief & loss therapist doesn't just tell you how to recover from your pain; instead he/she walks alongside you with compassion, gentleness, and insight.

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.