Grieving from a loss is a normal human emotion, but it can become a serious problem if your grief begins to interfere with your daily life or persists for an extended period of time.
Fortunately, our grief counseling program in Los Angeles, CA, can help you break free from the symptoms of grief and return to the quality of life you had before.
Contact 747.285.7504 to learn more about the treatments available at our grief counseling center in Los Angeles, CA, and start the path to mental health healing today.
The Five Stages of Grief
When psychologists discuss the effects of grief, they usually refer to the five stages of grieving that people often go through. These stages generally occur in order, but it’s possible to skip some stages or regress throughout the grieving process.
The five stages of grief include:
Denial
After experiencing a loss, many people will enter into a phase of denial. It can feel impossible to accept the loss of a loved one, an important job, or a romantic relationship. Instead of dealing with this process emotionally, people will deny it, telling themselves, “this cannot be happening.”
Anger
The next stage of grief is anger. Anger is often referred to as a secondary emotion—instead of dealing with the obvious problem of loss, people will lash out at people close to them and hide their true feelings behind a veil of anger.
For some people, the sensation of anger and frustration can be a comfortable place to hide from the reality of their loss.
Bargaining
The third stage of grief is referred to as bargaining. People will say or think things such as “it should have been me,” “if only I had been there,” or resort to spiritual practices in an attempt to reverse the feeling of loss.
Depression
Following bargaining, some people feel intensely sad and lose hope for the future. They may face sleep difficulties, changes in appetite, and feelings of being overwhelmed. The depression stage is often the hardest to go through, as the true weight of the situation finally hits.
Acceptance
The last phase of the grieving process is acceptance. In this stage, individuals come to terms with the fact that the past can’t be changed and that the best thing they can do for themselves is to accept their loss and move forward.
Reaching the acceptance stage is the goal for all of our guests at our grief counseling center in Los Angeles, CA.
How a Grief Counseling Program in Los Angeles, CA Can Help
When people enter our grief therapy program, they are typically caught in a cycle where they move between the first four stages of grief indefinitely without achieving a sense of acceptance. The goal of our program is to help those in our care fully process their losses and learn how to continue.
Through individual therapy, group therapy, and targeted grief counseling, our guests learn to use effective coping strategies when faced with the symptoms of grief.
Our therapists can help you work through the pain so that you can adjust to a new normal after a traumatic event.
Explore the Grief Therapy Program at Illumination Mental Health
If you’ve been stuck in the cycle of grief for too long and are ready to seek help, call the mental health experts at Illumination Mental Health at 747.285.7504 today. We can explain the full grief therapy program in detail.
We know how difficult grieving a loss can be, but with the help of a diverse team of mental health professionals, you can start the journey to recovery from your grief and begin the healing process.
