Grief Counseling

The world we live in is a broken one. That brokenness manifests itself in diverse ways, from relationships mired in conflict, rifts between loved ones, having those you love taken from you by illness or some other calamity, and so on. There is much weeping and sorrow that accompanies our sojourn. Scripture reflects this reality and gives us the language to process our experiences and grieve the various losses we go through. In this article, we’ll consider some encouragement and tips for coping with grief. Grief comes to us all, and it does so in different ways. Rather than denying our grief, the healthy thing for us to do is to acknowledge that we have indeed experienced loss and to deal with that loss by grieving. For a believer, that grieving process is aided by resources such as a community of believers that mourn with and comfort them (Romans 12:15; 2 Corinthians 1:3-5), prayer, and Scripture. Grieving as a Process Grieving is how we respond to a loss. There are different types of loss, such as the death of a loved one, significant changes in your health, life changes such as achieving certain milestones or moving house, relationships coming to an end due to separation or divorce, and the loss of identity resulting from life transitions. These different forms of loss trigger an emotional and mental response known as grief. We don’t all experience grief in the same way. While grief is often associated with sadness, there aren’t any hard and fast rules about the kinds of emotions a person experiences when they are grieving or the duration of those emotions. Some people feel sadness, while others experience denial, anger, shock, regret, guilt, relief, a sense of acceptance, longing, or numbness. Grief is a complicated and highly individual process. [...]