Coping with Grief

While most of us understand that grief is a natural part of life, coping with the loss of a loved one can be extraordinarily difficult.

We should realize that:

• Grief has no schedule or time limits. Many of us struggle with losses that occurred years or even decades ago.
• Grief is expressed differently by different people. Some of us face bereavement by seeming outwardly sad or withdrawing from friends and activities; others seem "normal" even though their private thoughts are often occupied by the loss.
• We shouldn't expect ourselves to "move on" from the loss of a loved one until we've dealt with our feelings, and "moving on" doesn't mean that we must forget about our loss or stop the process of grief.

You need not face the challenge of bereavement alone. If you find the process overwhelming, consider some of these options:

• Ask a member of the clergy or your physician for a referral to a licensed therapist trained in grief therapy.
• Contact the Jefferson Center for Mental Health at 303-425-0300.
• While professional in-person counseling is best, some online resources may help. Try Griefnet at http://griefnet.org, a professionally supervised Internet community of persons dealing with grief and death. Griefnet offers two Web sites, 37 e-mail support groups, a library of articles and other resources.

Last Modified: Mar 28, 2009 10:16 PM