 Navigating Grief By Miranda Watkins This is such a tricky topic to write about. The journey of navigating grief is experienced in many forms and for many things, be a loss of something precious, a life transition or bereavement.
It's often said there is no right or wrong way to experience grief and there is no time line, but how does this help one navigate the mix of painful and gut wrenching, bone crunching, soul splitting emotions that can be experienced. The first process can be in moving from instinctual reaction to crafting a healing response for ourselves. Reacting vs. responding. Allowing time to perhaps go through some of the common experiences including, (and not necessarily in order) shock, denial, bargaining, anger, sadness/despair, acceptance and hope. If we can learn to sit with this and allow this experience it will support our healing, but our natural instinct is to run from this. Suppress, avoid, distract, repress, coping strategies fully activated to deal with painful emotions or experience. Our supports (family, friends etc. if we are lucky to have them) can sometimes be there to share and sit with us, but even they can reach a saturation point. The raw pain can be too much for others to see or share. This is where an experienced therapist can help, they can be there for and with you to help co-pilot the journey so you may not feel so alone and isolated in this experience. Compassion and self compassion can also be an important healing response because whatever you are experiencing could be normal in the context of what you are grieving for and to be gentle with yourself. This may also be an unfamiliar concept for some who have been told to 'move on, it's not that bad or time will heal' - all of the above statements depend on what we do with that time and energy that this grief has consumed. It is never about getting over it but learning to incorporate it into our life narrative. Ultimately the depth of grief will shape, mound our lives, and perhaps build our resiliency if dealt with adaptively. At Evolve Wellbeing, we have Psychologists and therapists with real life experience and compassion to support you if you are struggling. It may be just one session or for as long as you need, as our aim is to get you back on track and skill you with the tools you need. |