In this blog we wanted to take some time to explore a specific grief therapy method that can support people navigating grief, loss, and transition.
Understanding Grief Counselling Airdrie: What Is Grief?
Grief is a simple word to describe big feelings that are associated with loss and transition. Grief can encompass a lot of emotions, including sadness, anger, regret, despair, loss, remorse, guilt, denial, shame, heartbroken, emptiness, depression, anxiety, and more. Grief counselling can be a neutral, supportive environment in which people can explore their inner most thoughts and feelings and engage in the grieving process.
Grief is our complex response to loss and transition in our lives. This can include the death of someone around us as well as other changes, like the loss of a relationship or job, change in a relationship or job, or the addition of big changes to our lives, like a new child. A lot of people deny themselves the experience of feeling grief when it does not involve death as they feel like they are not entitled to these feelings or “should not” feel the way they do. There are a lot of expectations, from self and others, about grief. This is part of what gets addressed in grief counselling Airdrie, along with the feelings themselves.
For more information about different types of grief and coping, we would invite you to read this article from Johns Hopkins Medicine and this article from HelpGuide.org.
Most people navigate through their feelings of grief using their own coping strategies (including some of the ones mentioned here) and support network, while some find benefit in professional support through grief counselling Airdrie as well.
Grief Recovery Method in Grief Counselling Airdrie
There are many ways that therapists approach grief in therapy, with one specific therapeutic modality being the Grief Recovery Method. I recently sat down with Sana Psychological’s own Jennifer Turner who offers grief counselling in Airdrie, Alberta to have a discussion about what the Grief Recovery Method is and how it can be incorporated into grief counselling Airdrie.
1) What is the Grief Recovery Method?
The Grief Recovery Method is an evidence-based program that helps individuals who are suffering from loss complete their unresolved relationship with their pain. It helps people recognize and understand that their experience and loss is unique and identify how the myths they have been taught from a young age about how to deal with loss – whether it be through distraction, self-isolation, or self-medication, etc. may have kept them stuck and unable to process their grief. It can be built into grief counselling Airdrie along with other tools and supports.
2) When is it used in grief counselling Airdrie and for what types of grief?
The Grief Recovery Method can be used to help any individual who is experiencing loss or grief – the loss of a loved one, whether through death, divorce, separation, or break-up; the loss of a pet; a change in one’s financial situation; or any of the other more than 40 losses one can experience throughout their life.
3) What can clients expect when doing the Grief Recovery Method during grief counselling Airdrie?
Clients can expect to complete readings from the Grief Recovery Method handbook, engage themselves in weekly homework exercises, and participate in discussions that will help to assist in their healing.
4) Why did you decide to get trained in the Grief Recovery Method and incorporate this into grief counselling Airdrie?
I decided to get trained in the Grief Recovery Method while working at a penitentiary. After seeing all the pain my clients were experiencing and feeling so powerless to help them, this program was recommended to me as a way to support these individuals through their grief.
To become certified, the Grief Recovery Institute has the trainees work through the program themselves. After working through my own grief and loss with the Grief Recovery Method, I discovered how remarkable the program was and the amount of healing that’s possible.
5) What are some of your favourite things about the Grief Recovery Method?
My favourite things about the Grief Recovery Method program are that:
- It can be delivered either one-on-one or in a group setting. While I believe that there are so many great things that can be achieved from a group setting, the option is there for a one-on-one, more private experience.
- I love the fact that it is an evidence-based program, which means it has been studied and supported through scientific research.
- I love the structured format that helps the client work through their loss in a manner that validates their own personal experience, removing the intellectual or rational aspect of what grief is and allows them to focus on their emotional experience.
6) Anything else you’d like to say about the Grief Recovery Method and grief counselling Airdrie?
I’ve seen the Grief Recovery Method work for many individuals of all ages, working through various losses – some experienced decades earlier and some experienced only months earlier.
I appreciate Jennifer sharing about the Grief Recovery Method and her work in providing grief counselling in Airdrie. We have all experienced transitions and changes in life that bring forward strong emotions, including grief, and it is comforting to know that there are supportive, structured methods to support us in these processes.
Visit us on Instagram @sana_psyc and our YouTube channel ‘Go Grow Yourself’ for more tools, strategies, and tips to support you in your wellness journey.
Jennifer Turner is a Registered Provisional Psychologist at Sana Psychological offering grief counselling Airdrie along with services for addiction, trauma, and ADHD. In addition to her passion for counselling and helping others, Jennifer is passionate about her animals at home, which includes an eclectic mix of sheep, dogs, and even an alpaca! You will not meet someone with a bigger heart than Jennifer.
Sana Psychological is a small mental health clinic providing grief counselling in Airdrie and Calgary, AB. We also serve those in the rest of Alberta, Yukon, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with virtual counselling.
Appointments and consultations can be booked anytime.
