Grief

Grief:

• A painful emotional process following the loss of a loved one, treasured possession, or opportunity.

• Caused by difficulties processing intense, complex, or conflicting emotions which accompany grief.

• Triggered by loss

• Leads to symptoms and impairments in functioning.

• Cured by identifying and processing the emotions activated by the loss, as well as any past unresolved losses which are being triggered.

Just like any injury, the pain of a loss is often acute. It stings hard. And fast. 

How could she be gone?! I just talked with her this morning!

How could I be getting laid off? I just got promoted!

We can lose our breath; struggle to comprehend. We can be in shock. 

But like most wounds, we have a built-in healing process. 

Our emotions come pouring out. We cry. We are angry. We express our love for the lost person or opportunity. 

As we do this over time, the pain lessons, our acceptance grows, and we move forward as a deeper person, forged by the pain and loss we experienced. 

But what happens if our innate healing doesn’t kick in? Or becomes stalled somewhere along the way?

In these cases, the pain persists. The sting doesn’t fade. It’s like popping a joint out of its socket. No relief comes until it’s set back into place. 

Other times, the pain begins to fade, but then morphs into an unending numbness. It hurts less, but the feeling is gone. And we never seem the same. 

Grief symptoms can include:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Disbelief

• Emotional numbness

• Unbearable emotional pain

• Avoidance of reminders about the loss or death

• Feeling that life is meaningless

• Marked loneliness (feeling alone or disconnected from others)

• Difficulty moving on (e.g., re-engaging with friends, getting back to work, planning for the future)

• Identity disturbance (e.g., feeling like part of oneself has died)

Common associated diagnoses: 

• Prolonged Grief Disorder

• Pathological Mourning

• Complicated Bereavement

• Depressive Disorders

So what can we do?

In order to heal from loss, we have to kickstart (re-activate) our body’s natural healing process.

How do we do this? 

At EmotionFit, we begin by identifying, experiencing, and processing the emotions tied to the loss. 

To initiate the healing process, we have to begin by knowing what we feel. If we can’t put our emotions in the right spot, the healing process cannot begin.

Once we know what we feel, we have to experience the feelings.

This involves feeling the sad feelings; grieving what was lost. This is the natural expression of love when what we love goes away. 

Often this also involves anger. Anger is what we feel when someone takes away or blocks something we love. 

So this must be dealt with too. If it’s not, it may channel into emotional numbness or enduring depression, and the sadness will become stuck with it. 

We see this frequently when the sadness is being felt, but it doesn’t bring relief in the way it typically does. This is because the anger element of the feelings has been missed. 

If we don’t experience our emotions, they don’t move. And if they don’t move, they get stuck. And this leads to symptoms. 

The symptoms are resolved by identifying and experiencing the emotions. And this allows for the natural grieving, and healing, process. 

Sometimes, losses in the present can also re-activate losses in the past. It’s these unresolved losses which are often the hardest to see, and hardest to heal. 

So we help you deal with your current grief, while also identifying any signs of unprocessed past losses which are preventing your healing. 

Once these are cleared out, the healing takes place naturally.

Don’t stay stuck in your grief. 

Let us help you grieve, so you can heal and move forward with your life.