What type of counseling is needed when a person cannot get over the grief of losing a loved one?
Grief and loss counseling helps people grieve difficult losses including the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the end of a relationship. It helps people navigate their grief process and eventually accept, understand, and move forward from their loss. Thriveworks grief therapists in Cleveland, OH have specific experience, training, and skills that enable them to best support grieving individuals.
How does grief and loss counseling work?
Grief and loss counseling isn’t one-size-fits-all, but it involves sharing about your loss and then working with your counselor to acknowledge and accept your new reality in its wake. Your provider at Thriveworks in Cleveland, OH will design your treatment plan around your unique needs and goals for therapy, applying the counseling techniques that best support them.
Signs I should seek grief counseling
If you have recently experienced an event like the death of a loved one, a breakup or divorce, the loss of a job, or another major life change, then you may want to seek grief and loss counseling. Grief can be caused by many experiences and events, so if you feel that you are having trouble moving on from a certain event or find that it is still impacting your life and functioning, grief and loss counseling can help you process it more effectively so that you can move on and once again find fulfillment and satisfaction in your life.
What counseling theory is best for grief?
There are many counseling theories for treating grief, one of the most frequently used being the dual process model of grief which helps people acknowledge who or what they’ve lost through rumination while also adjusting to the new roles and identities that this loss has now placed on them. There are also many commonly used therapy approaches used in grief and loss counseling, including Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and traumatic grief therapy.
Is grief counseling conducted in person or online?
Grief & loss counseling at Thriveworks is conducted both in person and online by video. We encourage you to choose the option that works best for you.
How long does grief counseling last?
For many, grief and loss counseling lasts for about 6 months. For others, it may last shorter or longer, depending on the severity of their loss and their grief.
Need more help deciding?
The grief counselors at Thriveworks Counseling & Psychiatry Cleveland work with your best interest at heart, providing comprehensive, compassionate, and transparent care and guidance. They can also see you in your chosen environment—via online therapy or in person at our Cleveland office.
If you need support and don’t know where to start, go online and book a session with a Thriveworks grief counselor today.
How Does Grief Therapy Work?
Grief is one of the most difficult things in life to go through—it makes sense that you might need help getting through it. A grief therapist there to support, guide, and assist you on your healing journey. They do this using multiple types of therapy techniques, such as:
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): The main tenet of ACT is to accept negative emotions in order to process and work through them rather than avoid them. ACT does this by focusing on the connections between thoughts and behaviors.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT focuses on the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to identify negative or maladaptive patterns. Through noticing these connections and discovering negative patterns, you can work to change them and develop new, healthy patterns.
- Traumatic grief therapy: This type of therapy is directed toward those who experience a traumatic loss. It focuses both on the trauma responses that might be present as well as processing your grief.
- Complicated grief therapy: A type of therapy also used for instances of traumatic grief and loss, complicated grief therapy is characterized by a strong desire for a deceased person to return, something seen in prolonged grief disorder. Because of this desire, you might avoid things with connections to the person you lost. Complicated grief therapy works to adjust this mindset and find healthy, productive ways for you to remember your loved one and develop strong coping skills.
- Group therapy: Group therapy can give people dealing with loss a sense of community, support, and understanding. Grief can feel isolating, so integrating yourself into a group of people that understand the complexities of how grief feels can feel very validating.
How to Tell if I Need Therapy for My Grief
Grief often accompanies the loss of someone or something, whether that be a loved one, a job, a house, or something else important to you. However, not everyone that grieves goes to grief therapy. Often, therapy is needed when grief is starting to interfere with daily functioning. This can happen in multiple ways—for example, when you’re experiencing things like:
- Avoidance: Grief can feel overwhelming, and because of this, it can feel easier to avoid your intense feelings and rather than processing them as they come. A grief counselor can give you helpful tools for you to learn how to access your grief without it overwhelming you each time, allowing you to let it go rather than keep it inside.
- Maladaptive grief: Coping strategies are an important part of processing and dealing with difficult emotions like grief, but when those strategies become more harmful than helpful (maladaptive), it can be hard to know how to change them. Maladaptive coping strategies may look like self-destructive behaviors (i.e. excessive drinking or reckless driving) or avoiding thinking or talking about what they’ve lost altogether.
- Symptoms of depression: Grief can frequently cause feelings of guilt or hopelessness, low mood, difficulty getting out of bed, and/or disinterest in normally enjoyable activities, each of which are symptoms of depression. In this case, it’s best to see a mental health professional to talk about your symptoms and decide on a treatment plan.
Where to Find Grief Counseling in Ohio: Counseling at Thriveworks Cleveland
Take the first step and book a session with Thriveworks Cleveland today. Look no further than Thriveworks Cleveland—simply call us at (614) 689-3972.
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