SUPPORT
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Email $20.00/Exchange. Three questions allowed per email.
Telephone grief counseling $45.00
Telephone grief counseling $60.00
Confidential affordable non-faith based grief support!
This service is simple, affordable, confidential, and most importantly...."will improve your life by
giving you the support you need for any loss." You no longer need to let your grief overwhelm you and control your life! You choose the service you prefer. With the initial contact you choose to purchase one question or session at a time, prearranged via email when the time is convenient for you----when you need someone to listen.
The contact begins when you submit the Contact Form. Complete payment and provide your name, email, and telephone number (include for phone session only). My service is built to meet your expectations! Giving you the opportunity to decide if you are comfortable talking with Grief Talk.
I will respond within 72 hours Monday-Friday via email.
Q. Does non-faith based grief support mean you do not have a spiritual belief system?
A. No. Just as every loss is different, so is the process that needs to be utilized for you to be heard and supported. Non faith based grief support means that your spiritual/denominational affiliations and beliefs are personal. You will integrate your ideology into your grief recovery by the means that are comfortable to you. This does 'not' indicate that spirituality and religion are insignificant in the grief resolution progress. It simply does mean that "your spiritual system" will be respected with GriefTalk4U.
Q. Someone at a hospice encouraged me to join their church. Is this professional grief counseling?
A. No, this is not professional grief counseling. Actually this is very unprofessional and harmful to your grief integration. A professional counselor does not impose their personal belief systems on you, the client. A professional bereavement counselor "actively listens" and encourages you to integrate your loss through your belief systems whatever you believe.
Q. Does GriefTalk4U contract for speaking engagements?
A. Yes, I enjoy educational opportunities.
Q. Do you have a professional brochure that explains your service?
A. Yes, brochure available for download on site.
Q. Is there a recognizable process that will let me know that my grief is integrating?
A. First of all, you need to know that grief is "normal". Grief is the normal emotion that occurs with any loss in your life. The loss maybe significant in your life, or less important. But with all loss you will experience grief which is normal. As someone who is integrating grief you probably will begin to notice that you are experiencing "more good days then bad days". This is a good indication that you are transforming your grief.
Q. I think I have seen the person who has died in a dream. Is this normal?
A. Yes, such systematic knowledge concerning such dreams comes from a study by Barrett (1992).
Barrett found she could classify the dream reports into four categories. (Domhoff's (1996) Finding Meaning In Dreams).
The first category contained dreams in which the dreamer was amazed or upset to see the deceased loved one alive. Barrett called these "back to life" dreams. They made up 39% of the 77 dreams of the dead. They tended to occur within a few days or months of the loved one's death.
The second category contains dreams in which the deceased person is giving the dreamer advice. The topics range from the trivial to the important and highly personal. These "advice" dreams, as Barrett calls them, made up 23% of the sample. They tended to occur many months to years after the person had died. Their emotional tone was usually pleasant.
The third category consisted of "leave-taking" or "resolution" dreams. In these dream reports the loved one explains the circumstances of his or her death, or assures the dreamer that everything has worked out for the best. These dreams make up about 29% of the sample. They can occur anywhere from several months to many years after the loved one dies. In a dream series these dreams almost always occur after back-to-life dreams (category one) and usually after advice dreams (category two). The feeling tone of these dreams is extremely positive. They often bring great relief to the dreamer and help resolve guilt in waking life.
The fourth category developed by Barrett contains dreams in which the nature of death is being discussed with a deceased person. The deceased person may be a distant relative or friend, or more generally someone who was not emotionally close to the dreamer. If a deceased loved one is involved, the dream is likely to have occurred many years after the person died. These dreams sometimes seem almost philosophic in content, a contemplation of the mysteries of death or the possibilities of immortality. They seem to express the dreamer's concerns about his or her own mortality. Some are pleasant, some are not. They make up about 18% of Barrett's sample.
A current synopsis on extraordinary events is being offered by Louis E. LaGrand, PhD, is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York and Adjunct Professor of Health Careers at the Eastern Campus of Suffolk Community College in Riverhead, New York. He is currently conducting and providing education opportunities : "Visions. Dreams. Messages from the deceased. "
Mourners often relate having extraordinary events (EE) while coping with the loss of a loved one.
Q. I have been told me that for the grief process to be normal; the emotions I experience will fit into a model. If I do not experience my grief "in stages" is my grief normal?
A. Yes. I believe you are making reference to Kubler-Ross grief stages. She was a doctor in Switzerland and hypothesized her theories after many years of experience with cancer patients. Her stages are:
Denial stage: Trying to avoid the inevitable.
Anger stage: Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotion.
Bargaining stage: Seeking in vain for a way out.
Depression stage: Final realization of the inevitable.
Acceptance stage: Finally finding the way forward.
Many hospices makes reference to these stages, however Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, documented her findings in 1969 in the book On Death and Dying, Macmillan, NY. Since that time there have been many studies compiled.
Two reliable sources are John James and Russell Friedman who support "Grief is a normal part of life".
Dr. Alan Wolfeldt has also published many publications and he supports grief as companioning. While Dr. Doka expiates grief integration as validation, reassurance, and the "normal".
Also worth mentioning here is Rando who has the six R's of grief: recognize,rest,recollect,relinquish,and reinvestment in life.
If you wish research 'grief' (www.bing.com) and evaluate the different cultural thoughts and theories on grief.
In summary grief integration is a normal life experience that is different for each of us because the emotional psychological factors are experienced differently in every relationship.
Q. Why would I want to speak with a grief counselor?
A. A professional grief counselor will offer you support through "active listening".
Q. My friends were supportive the first few months after my husband died; now they say things to me like "It's time to get over it and move on". I feel like I am the dark cloud in the room. Is this normal?
A. Yes, this is very normal in our culture. Many people find that when their friends are no long empathic they need a professional grief counselor to "listen" to them. A grief counselor should offer you a confidential "safe place" to verbalize your emotions, the opportunity to professionally connect with someone who has empathy, and aid you to learn tools to cope with your grief.
Q. Should my grief be resolved or integrated in six months?
A. No, as mentioned grief is different for each of us.
Q. If grief is "normal" can it be "complicated" grief?
A. Yes, you can have complicated grief. If you are experiencing any one of the following changes you should contact a professional grief counselor, seek out a grief support group, or talk with your health care provider:
You have trouble sleeping or regular nightmares.
You feel that you cannot handle strong emotions, or feel overwhelmed by your feelings.You have continuing feelings of emptiness or numbness.You feel isolated and have no one to talk to about how you feel.You are dealing with your grief by drinking or taking drugs.You are feeling worthless and thinking about suicide or ‘joining’ the dead person.Q. What is the best therapy for grief or bereavement support?
A. The best therapy for bereavement is talking (Talk therapy). Locate a trained grief counselor that employees "active listening" techniques that aid you in validating your grief journey. Find a counselor that you are comfortable talking with!
~ There is no grief like the grief that does not speak. ~
Graves are the foot prints of angels
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Telephone grief counseling $90.00
