By Alana Gregg, MA
When you lose someone you love, life changes in an instant. It’s like the rug has been pulled out from under you and you can’t quite get your footing again. Suddenly, you have to figure out how to live in a world without them. Where do you begin? While there is nothing I can do to take away the pain or fill the hole your loved one has left, I believe there is hope. A grief therapy group can ease your pain if you are ready to take that first step forward.
4 Benefits to Joining a Grief Therapy Group:
- Connection: Grief can be very isolating. Some people shy away because they don’t know what to say. Some people unintentionally say hurtful things because they’ve never experienced a significant loss. If you have lost a spouse, you may be struggling with losing relationships with other couples because you are no longer part of a duo. In a group counseling setting, you know you aren’t alone. There are other people who are grieving losses too and understand what you are going through. Even if your losses are different, there are commonalities that bind a group together as they wrestle with how to live without their loved one. You cannot heal on your own.
- Safe place: It can be difficult to talk to people about your grief. You don’t want to be the “downer” in the room or make people uncomfortable. Maybe talking to your family is hard because you don’t want to burden them or increase their grief. Group counseling is a safe place to process how you feel and to talk about things that may be too hard to discuss with other people.
- Learn & practice skills: The journey of grief can be very difficult to navigate. It’s all new to you and something that you may have never experienced before. It makes sense that you would need to learn skills to figure out what you need and how to take care of yourself. Group counseling gives you tools to prepare for the challenges that are ahead.
- Learn from each other: In a counseling group, not only are you gaining the advice and support of a trained counselor, but you gain encouragement and support from other people as well. You learn from other people’s perspectives and what has worked for them. It can also be healing to not just focus on your own pain but to acknowledge the pain of others.
Grief Therapy Group
At Lime Tree Counseling, our team is dedicated to helping hurting people find hope and healing. If you or someone you know is grieving, we are offering a grief support group in March called Coping with Loss. Our goal is to provide a safe space for people to share their pain and learn ways to deal with the new challenges they are facing. Grieving is very difficult but grieving alone is insurmountable. Call us today to register or find out more information.