Grief and Loss
Coping with grief and loss is always a difficult and delicate situation, regardless of whether that grief and loss is over a person, a job or a relationship. While friends and family may provide needed support, speaking with a skilled professional who is objective and experienced in grief and loss work can be invaluable in guiding you through this complicated process.
Looking for help with grief and loss in Henderson or Las Vegas? Call today to schedule an appointment with your own advocate, dedicated to helping you work through the pain of your loss as you find your way to your own “New Normal.”
Get help to understand what is happening to you both emotionally and physically. Identify what thoughts and actions are helpful to you in your healing, and which ones just get in your way. Speak openly and freely without expectations, judgments or fear of hurting others.
Not quite sure you need grief and loss counseling but have some unanswered questions?
Have you experienced the profound loss of someone dear to you? Are you feeling helpless, numb, overwhelmed, maybe disoriented as if nothing around you makes sense anymore? You may even be embarrassed you are so emotional, or not emotional enough. Perhaps you are surprised to find yourself having feelings you recognize as grief following the loss of a job, a relationship, after receiving a disturbing medical diagnosis, or watching your youngest child leave the “nest.”
A New Normal: Learning to Live with Grief and Loss was especially written for people experiencing their first significant loss. This simple little book has gone on to be used by grieving individuals, friends giving the book as gifts to grieving loved ones, businesses giving the book to clients experiencing losses, being used in grief groups, a learning guide in university classrooms and hospitals, one chapter was reprinted with permission in a UK textbook, and it was an Amazon “Grief and Loss” Best Seller for five years. The book can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions and may help answer your questions, or at least point you in the right direction on your journey.
Some of the frequently discussed topics concerning therapy for grief and loss:
- “I don’t know how to do this.” Experiencing your first loss can leave you reeling, lost, not knowing what to do from one minute to the next. Having a guide to help you along the way can make a painful experience just a little easier.
- “I don’t think I’m doing this right.” There is no right or wrong way to grieve, but there is plenty of information available that suggests that there is. The last thing we need when we feel lost is to have someone hand us a simple map that just leaves us even more confused.
- “What’s wrong with me that I am struggling harder with losing my pet than when I’ve lost family members?” There is nothing wrong with you. The degree of pain we experience with a loss is proportionate to how much the loss affects our lives. Our pets are with us all the time, accept us unconditionally, and greet us with glee when we walk back in the door—even if we just walked to the mailbox. When they are gone, the void can be staggering for real pet lovers.
- “I’m overwhelmed with decisions I have to make just when I am so completely exhausted, including dealing with difficult family members. What is the best thing to do?” You are the expert on what is best. There is no magic book of rules, and if there was it would have a different chapter for each geographic area, cultural base, etc. A fact that can be a helpful guide is that whatever choice you make, know there is no do over. What choice do you believe you could live with the best in the days and years to follow?
- “I am going through a divorce and find myself feeling a lot like when a dear loved one of mine died. What is happening to me?” You are experiencing a significant loss. The end of a marriage or close relationship is a type of death. It is the end of a dream that began with “I do” and somehow became “I don’t.” It is the end of the future you expected, perhaps the intact family you created together, it is even the end of the way you wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night. There’s a lot to grieve.
- “Were you the first one to use the term new normal?” I get this question a lot! I have worked in grief and loss for 25 years and used the term from early on because it captured exactly what happens. When I wrote the first edition of A New Normal in 2010, the book easily named itself. I first heard the term being widely used after “911”. The big difference that remains is I talk about “a” new normal, not “the” new normal. Life is full of new normals and I am an advocate of learning to deal with them all, good and bad, for the healthiest and happiest life.