Grief counseling is a kind of therapy that helps a grieving individual address his or her personal loss in a healthy way. It helps individuals work through their feelings, memories and thoughts that come with the loss of a loved one. Generally, it is aimed towards helping the individual pick up where s/he has left off. Grief counseling is offered in groups or individually by psychologists, counselors, clergy, social workers, professionals, church and community organizations as well as informal support groups.

Grief counseling addresses feelings typically experienced by individuals such as anger, anxiety, confusion, guilt, isolation, loneliness, numbness, relief and sadness. Other behavioral changes such as lack of appetite, being disorganized, sluggishness, trouble concentrating or vivid dreams may also be experienced by the individual as well. In grief counseling, the individual recognizes normal aspects of the mourning stage, copes with pain that comes with the loss and develops ways for self-care and support.

Grief counseling also helps individuals understand that the changes or symptoms they experience following the loss of a loved one are but normal and temporary. Some people seeking grief counseling may experience emotional numbness and need help in leading normal lives once again. In these cases, the therapy will concentrate on helping the individual connect with those feelings and lead an active, daily routine. Individuals have to accept this loss as part of reality.

The reactions of people experiencing the loss of a loved one may vary. Some people may grieve so much that they may experience psychological or physical symptoms while others may experience numbness that doing daily activities may be overwhelming to him or her. In cases such as these, the focus of grief counseling may be on specific coping mechanisms that can help the individual regain normalcy in carrying out daily activities. For instance, if an individual experiences changes in sleeping patterns, consultation with a physician may be included as part of grief counseling to assist with strategies on improving sleep. Or, if the individual suddenly experiences work problems following the loss, behavioral strategies may also be applied to help him or her bring back normal work habits.

Other additional tasks involved in grief counseling may include identifying ways to let go if the individual has not been unable to successfully do so. A helpful mechanism is through therapeutic letters, in which the individual expresses thoughts that were left unsaid before the loss. Moreover, grief counseling may also focus on the survivor's dreams of consolidating memories of the departed and the deceased, as these may usually be experienced by the individual as well.

Grief counseling is especially recommended for persons with prolonged grieving symptoms and severe personal distress following the loss, among which include crying spells, lack of motivation, too much preoccupation with the deceased or suicidal thoughts

An individual seeking grief counseling would more likely go through clinical evaluation prior to therapy, in order for the therapist to come up with the right treatment that would suit the person's goals and history. In addition, informal support networks such as family, friends and support groups usually provide aftercare to the individual.

There are those who, instead of being able to move on after grief counseling, actually become even worse. Results of grief counseling may vary depending on the individual's participation, the extent of grief and the relationship of the survivor to the deceased. Especially if the loss is unexpected or violent, efforts in grief counseling may need to be doubled and improvement may take time.

Grieving is an inevitable part of life. And grief counseling can show an individual that the loss of a loved one is never the end of your life ¨C in fact it can help you discover a new beginning, and even more to it.

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