Counselling ⋆ About ⋆ Grief ⋆ Inspiration ⋆ Questions ⋆ Where & When
Counselling & Psychotherapy in
Brighton & Hove, East Sussex
and Online via Zoom
“The work of the mature person is to
carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other
and to be stretched large by them”
(Francis Weller)
Grief Tending
I believe there is much wisdom and healing to be found in tending to our grief.
My family moved a lot in childhood. Different homes, locations, schools, and friends. Eight moves, in fact, by my twelfth birthday.
At age nineteen I had a very difficult year enduring five significant life events, including losing my father at the age of forty-four to cancer, and being a passenger in a serious car accident resulting in life changing physical injuries.
I went into “coping modality” as there didn't seem to be any support for me out there. I finished my psychology degree and pushed on with life and work. It wasn't until fifteen years later that I was ready to process all the events and grief. I underwent my own therapy and trained as a therapist myself. I have worked on healing my own nervous system after trauma and grief and regularly attend workshops and training for myself personally and professionally.
When I disconnected from my grief it meant I disconnected from myself and in later years reconnecting to myself and creating a home within myself, whatever my environment, has been the key to my own healing and peace.
I believe our fast-paced modern society is not focused on accommodating grief. Often it veers to being grief-phobic and awkward about it hoping we will, after a certain time, move on and get back to life as before. I have learnt that grief is part of love and if left unattended can have nowhere to go which can lead to shutdowns in other parts of our lives. It can lead to health issues, lashing out, depression, and affect us and our loved ones. In essence, resistance and denial of the grief hurts more than the grief itself.
We need to grieve fully to live fully and rituals remembering and honouring our loved ones can be very helpful.
I aim to walk alongside you as you enhance your capacity to hold the grief and in turn live more fully.
I welcome your grief and look forward to honouring the process with you.