Grief Therapy in New York, NY
When someone in your life has died or you have experienced a great loss of any kind, the pain can sometimes be overwhelming. You may find it difficult to eat or sleep or continue with your usual routine in the days, weeks or sometimes years following the event.
Everyone deals with grief differently. Grief is a very natural response to loss. And while there is no right way to process grief, when grief prevents you from doing the things you used to do (go to work, socialize, sleep regularly), it may be beneficial to work with a grief and loss therapist.
Our team of psychotherapists at Steady NYC in Midtown Manhattan, New York is specially trained in grief and loss therapy. Knowing there is a continuum of grief we all travel, we seek to meet you where you are and allow you to express your feelings and process your grief and feelings of loss in a safe, compassionate environment. Our goal is to help you move through the stages of grief in a healthy way so you can heal your pain, process your grief, and move forward while continuing to honor the memory of your loved one.
Our Approach
Grief is a natural and normal part of the life process. And it can be very difficult to navigate. Grief is loss and loss is painful and hard. They say the depth of a person’s grief is matched only by the amount of love they had for the person or the situation. We believe grief is something to be normalized. Something to make friends with rather than something to be feared.
We take the same approach in helping people manage and move through the grieving process as we do with other topics of concern — from a harm reduction perspective. We explore and identify actions and behaviors which may be unknowingly causing harm and then we do a risk/benefit exercise to determine which supports will help achieve the desired result.
The Stages of Grief
In addition to our focus on harm reduction, we help people move through the five well-known stages of grief, and the newest sixth stage of grief. These are
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
- Meaning Making (the newest stage of grief)
Kubler-Ross and Kessler’s Five Stages of Grief have expanded to include this sixth stage: Meaning Making.
Kessler explains it as the meaning we make of the grief we’re experiencing. Ultimately, it’s the way we move beyond the feelings of grieving and how we make meaning from it. Perhaps it’s the way we choose to celebrate a person’s life or the time we had with a person, a pet, or an experience.
We believe making meaning of grief is vital to the healing process. Following the stage of acceptance, the stage of Meaning allows a person to full experience sadness and frustration first and then move to a kind of peaceful resolution. This helps lend a purpose and meaning to the often difficult and painful feelings of grief while finding meaningful ways to honor the person or thing that was lost.
Support for Grief and Loss
Sometimes grief and loss are too great a burden to bear by ourselves. Having a safe and supportive person to share your concerns with can be a tremendous comfort during times of pain and heartache. The therapists at Steady NYC are specially trained to provide a compassionate and safe environment for people to process and heal from grief and loss.
Our therapists at Steady NYC help people at every step and stage of the grieving process. There is no set timeline or prescribed “end date.” Everyone processes grief differently and in their own way. But the stages and steps are the same. Our therapists will meet you wherever you are on this continuum and help you process and experience all of the feelings and emotions that are part of the grieving process.
We all experience grief and loss at some point in our lives. And most move through the stages of grief at their own pace and with their own unique experiences. However, for others, grief and loss become like a brick wall. An obstacle that seems insurmountable and unsurpassable. And the daily routines of life become interrupted and difficult.
If you’re experiencing grief and loss in New York City, the highly trained team of therapists at Steady NYC are here to help. Contact us today.