Grief, Loss
and Bereavement

What is Grief?

Loss is inherent in life and spans all areas of life including biological, situational and relational. We lose our teeth as children and our hair and firm skin as we age. We can lose a sports competition, our job, or our home. And of course, the loss of a relative or friend or even an acquaintance can be most painful. Whether you have experienced loss personally or have witnessed others, loss changes us forever.

Loss triggers a psychological and emotional response called grief which is composed of a myriad of emotions such as shock, denial, anger, guilt, sadness and relief that everyone copes with in their own unique way. And while the psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross outlined universal stages of grieving, including denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, there is no one direct way to travel through them.

With time and a strong support network, many people can heal from loss and resolve grief on their own. This is noted when the grieving person is able to reach a place of acceptance of the loss and attend to life with a deeper sense of commitment.

Therapists at BHAVA therapy center believe that supporting the grieving person requires joining him/her in a journey of honest exploration and understanding of the nature of the relationship or situation they are grieving. Such exploration may include looking at emotions and thoughts that are conflicted, contemptuous and difficult to fully name. It is through this route of honest, supportive explorations that a loss can be processed, and for a sense of closure to be reached. We want to support you with grieving in a healthy way which keeps in mind the loss, but also supports the possibility of growth and exploration of future life goals. Loss is a very difficult process, but also a huge opportunity for reevaluating life goals and making decisions which might have seemed very difficult to make in the past.