Grief affects different people in different ways, and the grief journey is a highly personal one. Some individuals are unable to address their grief, for such reasons as the stresses and pressures of life, health issues, denial, and trauma. This phenomenon of being stuck in grief is called being frozen, and the feelings of loss, depression, and emptiness can become debilitating. The unaddressed intense emotional pain caused by the death of a loved one can manifest itself as an underlying cause of physical and mental health problems, both immediate and future.
For those living with issues due to unaddressed grief, emotional, physical, and mental health problems may manifest weeks, months, even decades later. Very often the grief-stricken individual does not connect what they are experiencing with their past, unattended-to grief.
However, if they do make the connection, it is very likely that they have been regularly subjected to the all-too-common mantra, “But you should be over it by now...” proffered by well-meaning, but ill-informed friends and relatives, who cannot possibly understand their personal grief journey.
So, if you are stuck in a place of grief, unable to move forward in your life, a grief counsellor can help you come to terms with such issues as trauma, compound, complicated, and disenfranchised grief. A qualified grief professional will never counsel you to ‘let go’, or to ‘get over’ your grief, or to have 'closure.'
A qualified grief professional will help you move forward with your life by facilitating healthy, proactive, portable coping strategies and normalizing triggers, in order for you to get back to a healthy and meaningful life.