Grief Counseling Colorado Springs
Losing someone or something you love or care deeply about is very painful. You may experience all kinds of difficult emotions, and you may feel the pain and sadness you’re experiencing will never let up. These are normal reactions to a significant loss. While there is no right or wrong way to grieve, there are healthy ways to cope with the pain that, in time, can renew and permit you to move on.
Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief will be. You may associate grief with the death of a loved one—which is often the cause of the most intense type of grief—but any loss can cause grief, including:
- Divorce or relationship breakup
- Loss of health
- Losing a job
- Loss of financial stability
- A miscarriage
- Retirement
- Death of a pet
- Loss of a cherished dream
- A loved one’s serious illness
- Loss of a friendship
- Loss of safety after a trauma
- Selling the family home
The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief becomes. However, even subtle losses can lead to despair. For example, you might experience grief after moving away from home, graduating from college, changing jobs, selling your family home, or retiring from a career you loved.
Grieving is a personal and highly individual experience. How you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality and coping style, your life experience, your faith, and the nature of the loss. The grieving process takes time. Healing happens gradually; it can’t be forced or hurried—and there is no “normal” timetable for grieving. Some people start to feel better in weeks or months. For others, the grieving process may measure in years. Whatever your grief experience, it’s essential to be patient with yourself and allow the process to unfold naturally.
Grief is a bewildering experience incorporating many mixed and contradictory emotions. People try to bring order and sense to their lives, but there is no order during times of grief as feelings arise randomly. Helping clients cope with grief involves sitting with them through the pain while they experience their loss in a supportive and validating environment. We do not try to “fix” grief, rather experience it within healthy boundaries.