You may have experienced a bereavement that shook your world or changes all the plans you had for the future. You may be experiencing a whole range of feelings like sadness, physical and emotional pain, yearning, feeling lost. There may also be other feelings like anger or relief. There may be some feelings of guilt or shame because you don’t experience the loss in the way you expected to. 

You may be thinking that life will never be the same again. You may have some thoughts about not wanting to live without the person or pet that you loved.

You might feel that the feelings you have seem out of proportion to the loss you’ve experienced or feel (or have been told) that you should ‘get over it’ or ‘it’s time to move on’. 

Grief has no timeframe, or pattern or structure. I picture it as waves. First of all, it’s like a storm and every wave tries to knock you off your feet. After a while the storm abates, or you learn how to ride it. After some time the waves of grief can lap at your feet as you paddle. Every so often a big wave comes along and knocks you over again – you can’t predict these and they can be very sudden. But you’ll find a way to pick yourself up and get back in the water again. 

As a counsellor familiar with these feelings of grief I would be there alongside you to help you at this difficult time in whatever way you need. You can talk about what their loss means to you, share your memories, and find out how to commemorate and honour their life in your own way.