Handling Bereavement – Bereavement Counselling
Bereavement is a period of grief and mourning one goes through after someone close to him dies.
It is about trying to accept what happened, learning to adjust to life without that person and finding a way to keep their memory alive while one tries to get along as best he can.
Bereavement period can be a confusing time involving a lot of very powerful emotions. These emotions can grow, fade and shift as one move across the different stages of bereavement. Not everyone experiences the same stages of bereavement at the same time or in the same order. The emotions experienced in various degrees are – Denial, anger, bargaining & depression. However, most people generally go through the following four stages at some point:
Bereavement counselling is designed to help people cope more effectively with the death of a loved one.
Bereavement counselling offers an understanding of the mourning process, helps to resolve areas of conflict still remaining, explore areas that could potentially prevent you from moving on & to adjust to a new sense of self. It also addresses possible issues of depression or suicidal thoughts.
Bereavement counselling aims to get to the point where one can function normally – however long it takes. While loss affects people in different ways, it must be remembered that almost anything that one experiences in the early stages of grief is normal—including feeling like you’re going crazy, feeling like you’re in a bad dream, or questioning your religious beliefs.
By creating a place to keep the person you lost, and finding ways to remember them, one should be able to preserve their memory and honour, the impact they had on your life, without letting their absence obscure your own future. One never stops missing the person lost, but with enough time and the right support, a new life can be pieced together and purpose can be reclaimed. Sharing your loss makes the burden of grief easier to carry. Wherever the support comes from, accept it and do not grieve alone. Connecting to others will help you heal.
Many organizations offer bereavement service and support. For those who do run into trouble, help is at hand, not only from doctors, but from the counselling centre like ours… With time, pain does settle.
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