Grief and Loss
Grief and loss are a part of almost every new transition we will experience in life. We can expect grief or loss to present itself in the form of a separation, a lost friendship, death of a loved one, or even a career change.
For some people, identifying grief and loss is easy. They know they've suffered a loss and are anticipating the coming grief process. For the rest of us, sometimes grief is hard to identify, particularly if you didn't perceive there to be a clear "loss." This might include a dying relationship that isn't actually "done" yet, or can even come up in reflections of past relationships with family or friends that didn't give you quite what you needed. It can sometimes look and feel like anxiety, panic, depression, physical symptoms such as a tight throat or chest, despondency, or simply agitation. All of these feelings are common throughout the process and we can expect a very wide range in our own affect during our time of bereavement.
While there are a handful of different theories and approaches on grief and loss, it seems that the common theme is that we can expect multiple stages throughout the process. One of the most important things to remember during loss is that it is ok to not be ok and that eventually you will be ok again. And while we can expect to have grief and loss as inevitable in life, we can know that we aren't alone, and that there is absolutely help out there for you. Please reach out, whatever the loss in your life looked like. Together we can work through this difficult stage of life.