No matter how much you understand death as a part of life, it does not make it any easier to accept. Death is painful and difficult to experience. It hurts beyond belief and it is complicated. At times the pain may seem insurmountable, but therapy can help you understand, accept and ease the pain. After the death of a loved one, life will never be the same. However, therapeutic treatment has been shown to provide skills and tools to assist with the creation of a new normal that integrates your loss into a new existence.
As your therapist, I will support you through the process of grief or bereavement. I will help you navigate the pain and sorrow, the tears and the laughter. I will remind you that there will be good times again. You will smile, you will cherish your memories and you will be able to move on. Everyone can benefit from support during the grieving process: help with self-care, help with the depression and sadness that often accompanies the loss of someone you love, or help with daily tasks. Perhaps your grief has overtaken your life and you have lost your identity and interest in things that used to make you happy. I can help you reclaim these assets. I can show you how to get through the devastating first years. Therapy heals.
Traumatic and complicated grief
Sometimes individuals are faced with traumatic circumstances that accompany and complicate grief. Traumatic grief is often experienced when a loved one dies in a sudden, unpredictable manner including a suicide, accident, act of violence or unexpected circumstance. Complicated and/or abusive relationships with a loved one who dies or a prolonged caring process or illness might also result in traumatic bereavement. I am skilled at simultaneously addressing trauma and grief in these unique but painful situations.
Together, in therapy we will focus on alleviating your symptoms and enhancing your resilience. I will provide a safe environment and teach you how to reestablish boundaries, control, and find increasing interludes of peace. Your therapy will focus on de-sensitizing you to the traumatic stress you are feeling and help you process and integrate your feelings. In the aftermath of trauma and pain I can help you find acceptance and resolution. Your body and spirit long for peace and serenity from your ordeal, and together we can discover calm moments of respite within your storm so you begin to experience moments of unwavering wholeness, knowingness, and healing.
Grief and children
Grief affects children in different ways and if unprocessed can have a profound impact on their childhood and adult lives. The death of a loved one, especially a parent or guardian, is almost always a traumatic experience for youth and can negatively impact physical and mental health, school work and relationship with friends. I have specialized training and skills and substantial experience working with children, adolescents and teens. I am able to deliver age and developmental appropriate interventions and activities to help younger adults understand, accept and continue to thrive in experience of death.