Ways in Which Grief Counseling Helps | Cremations

Considering grief counseling after cremations in Burlington, WA may be one of the healthiest steps you can take after you’ve lost someone you love. Many funeral homes offer grief support groups as part of their funeral home services. All funeral homes have deep ties within the community, including with counselors who specialize in grief, and they will be happy to help you with any grief resources you may need. 

There are some areas in the grieving process where you may get stuck emotionally and grief counseling would be beneficial in helping you to get unstuck and continue to move forward in adjusting to – not getting over – the loss of your loved one. 

One area where grief counseling can help is when grief has caused emotional shutdown. Not only are you unable to feel the emotions of grief, but you are also not able to experience any other emotions, such as happiness, anticipation, or excitement. Sometimes emotional shutdown happens as a coping mechanism to avoid having to face the tough feelings of grief, but counseling can help you sort through all the emotions in a gentle and supportive way. 

If you find yourself avoiding family and friends for a prolonged period after losing a loved one, grief counseling can help. Many times, when we are avoiding being with the people who matter the most to us in life, we are really avoiding painful memories of time together with our loved ones and we are avoiding the chance that they may want to talk about them or that our loved one will come up in conversation. Grief counseling can help you ease back into those relationships that you need and that will support you and comfort you throughout your life. 

If your loved one has been gone for several months or years and you are still experiencing guilt about enjoying life without them, then grief counseling can help. It is normal to have feelings of guilt about being happy or enjoying something or laughing about something right after a loved one dies. It can seem as though you’re not sad enough or they didn’t mean enough to you for you to feel awful all the time. However, with time and perspective, you should come to understand that your loved one has a special place in your memory that can never be taken away, but they would want you to be happy and to enjoy life. 

Grief counseling can help if you’re hesitant about developing new relationships after the loss of a loved one. This often is the result of a fear that you’ll get close to someone and you’ll lose them too. The response is to avoid getting into any new relationships and cutting yourself off from the possibility of new relationships, which is not healthy in the long run. 

Escapism can be an early way of coping with grief. You may immerse yourself in activities, work, and anything else that can keep your mind off the death of your loved one and the sorrowful feelings associated with that. For a short period of time, this may work, but if it goes on for an extended period of time, grief counseling can help because you’re not dealing with and processing the feelings and emotions of grief. 

For information about grief resources after cremations in Burlington, WA, our compassionate and experienced team at Moles Farewell Tributes & Cremations – Bayview Chapel is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 2465 Lakeway Dr., Bellingham, WA 98229 or you can call us today at (360) 733-0510.