Bereavement counselling at Psychologist Belgium
The process of grief can be manageable
Losing a loved one is in itself difficult to imagine and to accept. The loved one is no longer there, and leaves a big hole in the system which, until then, governed our lives. The pain is intense because we can no longer see the person who was close to us, or touch them, or talk to them, and also because the feeling of emptiness completely destabilises us. The process of grief consists of rebuilding one’s daily routine in the absence of the deceased, and of making the grief manageable. In no circumstance does grief mean forgetting; it is the opposite of remembering, but instead giving the deceased their place as the departed.
Bereavement counselling with Psychologist Brussels
Each individual reacts differently when faced with bereavement: acceptance can be relatively quick for some, and very long for others. When a person can’t manage to “turn the corner”, but the pain related to the loss remains alive and doesn’t decrease, or even hinders daily life and the relationship with their circle, a counsellor’s support may be necessary to help with the process of grief. psychologist Brussels
Psychologist Brussels’s counselling service is support which will give you the tools you need to get over the loss and to give it a place in your daily life. By putting the pain into words, by reformulating it so that it is more tangible and easier to move on from, you can make this loss a manageable part of your life. psychologist Brussels
What kind of loss are we talking about?
Bereavement is mostly associated with the loss of a loved one. But in psychology, other scenarios can evoke the same feeling and sometimes require the same process of grief: a divorce, a separation, losing your job, and a house move are just some of the situations which need a process of grief. These events are sometimes lived with such intensity that the support of a counsellor is of great use.
Consequences of loss
Physical consequences of a bereavement
The death of a loved one evokes sadness, an empty sensation, sometimes anger, and powerlessness, and all of these emotions are also accompanied by a huge feeling of fatigue. The process of grief is in fact a stage which requires a great deal of energy, and the grieving individual must go through the stages with their body acting as a funnel. The emotions which we go through are so strong that they can often lead to physical symptoms, such as stomach ache, loss of appetite, headaches, and of course any illness directly linked to fatigue.
The emotional journey of a bereavement
Intense and profound grief, a feeling of guilt, loss of direction, a feeling of being lost, loneliness and anxiety are some of the emotions which mark the process of grief. These feelings vary from person to person, but sometimes need the support of a counsellor in order to be able to get over them smoothly and reasonably.
Possible social consequences of a bereavement
In the grip of the loss of a loved one, certain individuals can have reactions of withdrawal – isolation sometimes pushed to the extreme. In certain cases, they can also have reactions of bitter anger and rebellion which can be taken out on those around them. Another type of reaction can be to desperately seek contact from others, based on permanent worry, with a fear of danger for their nearest and dearest exaggerated by the recent loss.
Time to heal
The process of grief goes through several stages, usually long, like a slow digestion of emotions, and the realisation that the loved one is no longer there. If time helps to numb the pain, a counsellor is often recommended so that the person can find the right words for the pain and frustration brought about by grief, so as to correctly verbalise what they’re feeling in order to heal “open” wounds.
Accepting loss, and the fact that the person is no longer there, demands a great deal of energy and a dual process: the passive process of letting the pain temporarily have its place and it losing intensity with time, but also an active process of readjusting one’s daily routine, without the deceased in it.
Four major points mark the process of grief:
- Accepting the loss and that the person is “no longer there”.
- Letting the pain which accompanies this loss run its course, without restraining it, and living through it whenever it pops up
- Rebuilding your daily routine, without the deceased person as part of it.
- Finding a place in your life for the deceased and finding a taste for life again.
