Grief and Loss

What is Grief?

Grief is a natural, adaptive human process associated with the experience of loss.

Grief, shame, stigma, guilt, trauma, anger and rage all live together in therapeutic work and our Network therapists are trained to support you, as you navigate these complex, human emotions and experiences.

The Impact of Grief

Reactions to a loss can be physical and psychological. It is not uncommon to experience periods of intense distress and feeling such as, but not limited to, the following:

Longing, crying, dreaming of your loved one, anger, denial, sadness, despair, insomnia, fatigue, guilt, loss of interest, confusion and disorganisation, disbelief, inability to concentrate, preoccupation with thoughts of your loved one, fleeting hallucinatory experiences, unusual perceptual experiences, meaninglessness, withdrawal, avoidance, over-reacting, numbness, relief, sadness, yearning, fear, shame, loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, emptiness, loss of appetite, weight gain, changes in levels of sexual desire, grief surges and spasms.

All of these responses are normal.

How Can Therapy Help?

Our Network therapists will draw on the various established models of grief to support you as you experience this unavoidable and essentially human process. They will;

• Listen, witness and hold your grief.
• Normalise your feelings.
• Offer you a non-judgemental space .
• Help you to frame your experience in ways that reduce distress.
• Support you to assimilate your loss, when you are ready.
• Create space for new meanings and life purposes.