Coping with Loss
Grief can manifest itself in a variety of ways. We have all heard of the “stages of grief”-shock, anger, bargaining, depression,and acceptance…but although most of us will experience each of these stages, we will all go through them at different times and in different ways. Just as there are no two snowflakes exactly like each other, no two people grieve in the same way.
There are an infinite number of variables that play into the losses we experience, from the type of loss itself, to our own lifetime experiences, to our personality type, to the support structure we have in place. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. There is no formula or time line. You just have to trudge your way through it. No one can take a magic wand and make the pain go away.
Some find solace by masking the pain with a variety of temporary fixes, including work, substances (such as drugs or alcohol), shopping, or sleeping. Unfortunately, these only push the grief back for awhile, and when you wake up one day, you are not only having to deal with the loss, but you are also having to face other problems that have mounted because of the negative ways you have chosen to cope. It doesn’t make it wrong, it just probably isn’t the healthiest way to manage.
We all face loss, which comes in the form of divorce, death, empty-nest, retirement, and relocation, to name a small few. I have helped parents deal with the loss of a child, parents deal with the loss of the innocence of their children, teens handle moving and leaving their friends, and many other forms of loss.
Handling loss, working through grief, and doing it in the most healthy way is what I want to help you do. At your pace. With your variables in mind. If you are in the Lubbock area, please contact me and let me walk through this with you.