“ No matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.”
-Faraaz Kazi
Grief
Grief is the response one has to the loss of someone or something valued. Grief has a lot of dimensions. These dimensions are physical, social, psychological, cultural, spiritual and philosophical.
It is a natural response to loss. It causes a lot of emotions and it is extremely tough for some people to come out of this situation. Therefore , it is often recommended by psychologists to take counselling help from experts before situation turns from bad to worse. Some people can’t afford high fees of psychiatrists, therefore they can try out the free grief counselling.
Free grief counselling is a unique service offered by both government and private institutions. Before getting into its details, first discuss stages of grief and its symptoms
Five stages of grief
Five stages of grief are
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
Symptoms of grief
Complicated grief overwhelms a person for a long period and interferes with day-to-day functions. These prolonged symptoms include
- Intense emotional pain
- Long-lasting sadness
- Sense of hopelessness
- Feeling of emptiness
- Difficulty in remembering happy memories
- Reduced sense of identity
- No desire to achieve goals and plans.
Free Grief counseling
After talking about grief, now let’s talk about grief counselling, institutes providing them and then its commandments.
The process of grieving is different for everyone and so the healing process also differs from person to person. Some people recover from grief quicker than others and resume their normal activities, while for others, this period is very long-lasting.
Grief can become complicated due to other conditions such as depression and stress.
Top institutes providing free grief counseling
Following are the most reputed institutes providing free grief counseling. The list of these institutes includes
- Hospice of Piedmont
- Hospice of the valley
- Better Help
- Tamarack Grief Resource Centre
Online support groups for free grief counseling
There are online support groups that offer grief counseling. Talking through grief with people going through similar situations helps in getting on the lath of healing. These support groups include
This group offers best overall services.
This group facilitates the best live chat.
This group is best for young people suffering from grief.
This is the best social media group for grief.
This group provides email support.
Commandments of free grief counseling that work
The right to talk about grief
When you need it most, talking about your loss can help you find support. You can identify the people in your life who are encouraging and reassuring and rely on them. You can find other people going through the same thing by joining free grief counseling support groups. You can draw on the knowledge and expertise of those who have gone through their own grieving processes and learn from them. Community may be incredibly therapeutic.
The right to feel a throng of emotions
Everyone’s grief is in no way similar to others. When people turn to others for free grief counselling, then counselor should not dictate patients’s emotions. The affected person should be allowed to feel and show his/her emotions.
The right to cherish your memories
After the death or loss of a loved one, memories are the best legacies left behind. The right to cherish those memories and talk about them with whoever you feel right is yours only.
The right to heal
Healing from your grief is never easy. It requires time, patience, strong will and effort. It is a process and does not happen in a moment. You have to be patient and tolerant not just with yourself but with others around you.
Emotional healing is like trying to climb a steep flight of stairs that has certain challenges. You climb a couple, pause, maybe back up a step, and then climb a few more. The problem is that the low moments can seem insurmountable for someone who has gone through trauma or battles terrible mood swings, but you will get through them sooner than your concerns would have you believe.
The right to find meaning in the loss
Often, after the loss of someone, a person tends to question the reason of the loss. ‘Why did he/she die?’ ‘why did it have to be her/him?’
The person has the right to find answers to the questions and the meaning of their loss. When faced with the lessons of grief, you choose to endure and get through the suffering. You can choose to see the grief of loss as serving a particular purpose if you so desire. You can achieve emotional and spiritual calm by using crises as an opportunity. You are given the option to learn from the experience or to give up and retreat into your tragedy. Either give in to the suffering or make the decision to change. Making the decision to develop and change oneself is not simple. It necessitates effort, tenacity, and endurance. It is a process, just like everything else in mourning, but it is what makes loss worth enduring.
Conclusion and summary
With the increase in suicide rates, grief counseling has become very important. Healing from grief and talking about it helps fight the symptoms and resume daily life routine.
Bottled grief or untreated grief then turns into trauma and depression and can cause long-term effects. It affects mental as well as physical health and shatters a person’s spirituality.
