Why You Need Grief Counselling
Grief counselling is a type of therapy that helps an individual cope with his extreme feelings of loss. Grief counselling can be recommended for an individual who has lost a loved one or who is going through other grief-provoking events, such as the loss of a job, break-up of a relationship, the diagnosis of a critical illness or many other reasons. This type of counselling can be used for individuals and in groups in order to help them cope with their intense feelings of loss.
Unlike a therapy where the principal goal of a counsellor is to try to change a patient's behavior, in grief counselling the counsellor's goal is just to be there for the bereaved. This is why it is sometimes referred to as compassioning. In most cases, the grief counsellor renders help by just actively listening to the person and by showing empathy.
Those working in grief counselling recognize that it takes some time for an individual to overcome grief. So grief counsellors try their best to be present in any stage of grief that a person is going through. They may also be there to remind the individuals that whatever choices they make or feelings they have during that time of grief are just normal and natural.
For instance, when a person suffers the loss of a loved one, he may receive plenty of compassions and sympathies from family and friends. However, after a few weeks most of his family and friends will have to move on, especially if the death has no personal and direct effect on them. In the meantime, the grief-stricken person may not yet be willing to move on. This is where grief counselling is necessary. It will allow the person to continue in processing their loss and be given sympathy which may not be readily available from other people, not even from family or close friends.