Loss/bereavement counselling

When someone we know dies we can feel sad, lonely and depressed, but also confused, frightened, numb, angry or lost. Everyone experiences death differently; we all grieve in our own way. There is no right or wrong way to feel after someone has died. Sometimes you may feel relief that the person has died and this can bring up both complicated emotions and an opportunity to move on. Whatever your situation grief is a personal journey, and counselling can help.

When we grieve what we need is support, answers, and comfort. Unfortunately, people often find it hard to talk to you about it. This can leave us feeling even more isolated and sad. Coming to counselling can help you to express your deepest feelings about how the loss has affected you. We don’t judge or advise you on how you feel, we just listen.

Grief can be particularly difficult for young people to express and process. Many young people will lose grandparents or elderly adults and people say ‘you’ll be fine, it’s just part of life’. This can leave them feeling that their sadness or complicated feelings are not valid. Younger children may not understand that death is a permanent loss, but teenagers do, this can result in their fear of others dying being heightened. This has been a specific issue during the Covid_19 global pandemic, many young people have been deeply affected by grief or worry about future loss. At cherry pie we can help them to understand these feelings and learn how to manage without the person in their life.

How do we work with grief?
Grief is unique to each client, so it is important that the sessions are tailored to your specific needs. We might do memory boxes or letter writing activities, explore life and death through art and craft or just do colouring and talking. Sometimes people just need a space to sit and relax, to show their true feelings without putting on ‘a mask’. This enables them to move through their grief at their own pace, rather than at the pace other people expect from them.

We also support those who may be preparing for the death of a loved one. Parents often want to protect their children from the truth to save upsetting or worrying them. We believe that if a child is imminently or possibly going to lose a parent or family member they need to be involved. If they have the chance to spend positive time with the person and can ask questions and offload emotions it can empower them and make an extremely distressing situation slightly more bearable.