Grief and Loss Counseling in Temple, TX.

My approach to counseling grief and loss is to provide a calm, safe environment in which individuals who are experiencing grief are encouraged to allow themselves to grieve. I guide the grieving person in the sometimes difficult process of giving themselves "permission" to grieve. By helping the person overcome the barriers to the appropriate expression of grief feelings, the healing process can move forward. They also learn that it is not only normal to grieve, but also emotionally healthy.

The best way I can describe the grief experience is that everything feels surreal and our brain feels like it's under water. Sometimes we can't make a complete thought. Often we feel disconnected from others. Other times our pain is so intense we feel that if it doesn't ease up, we might die from it. Our "normal" is disrupted and between the time we pass from our old normal to a new normal we travel through intense emotions. We can experience grief because someone we loved died. But we also experience grief from other losses, such a divorce, lost jobs, news of sickness or chronic illness, friendships, moving to new cities. Simply put, change, even small ones can create a grief response.

My approach to grief and loss includes an Adlerian, holistic perspective. I believe that an integral part of healing from any loss includes work that helps the individual derive the meaning of the loss. I will help you work through the pain, meeting you at whatever stage you are at in the grief cycle. We will pay particular attention to your whole body, mind, and spirit: where/how you physically feel the loss, the thoughts you are telling yourself, and enhancing your spirit with therapeutic tools in session. You will use these tools to help you recover and function more fully in your personal/professional relationships. EMDR can be used as a very effective for grief/loss therapeutic tool.

I work with clients facing grief and loss by allowing them to work through the often confusing and overwhelming feelings of shock, denial, bargaining, sadness and acceptance. The stages of grief do not fit a linear pattern and it is normal to vacillate between feelings and sometimes to regress. Together, we sort through the emotions in order to move towards a path of acceptance and the allowance of future joy.

Each person moves through grief and loss at their own unique pace. There are no rules. It can be like both a roller coaster with ups and downs and a wave, rolling back and forth. I provide a safe place to feel and work through the pain and ways to hold onto the treasures that were formerly present in that which is now lost. Grief is universal, in that it touches each persons life. It is unique in that we move through it in our own way. I will support you in your unique journey toward healing.

Grief is hard. Grief is natural. Animals grieve. Grief is something we feel deep in our bodies and can be disorienting and destabilizing. Grief brings up questions about who we are, the world, the existence or goodness of God, and purpose and futility of life. Dealing with grief, especially when the loss is traumatic and unexpected, requires a slow and tender space to allow the grief to move through our body and to settle in our hearts with warmth and memory. I am here to help you grieve the loss of your loved one, experience, health , future or even your beloved pet. .

Grief is a natural part of a full life, but experiences of loss can still leave us feeling empty and hopeless. I've walked through the dark valleys of grief with countless individuals over my 20 plus years of practice, and helped them draw on their emotional and spiritual resources to find renewed energy for life. Even the most traumatic losses can lead to places of deep joy and contentment.

The loss of a loved one can be as crippling as it is painful. Friends and co-workers who have not been through it offer well-meaning and simple advice that often adds to the exhaustion you already feel . Our team of therapists can help you find your footing, learn to breathe again, and develop strategies to manage the pain and the other obligations and relationships in your life, while continuing to honor the memory of what has been lost.