Whether you’re dealing with the loss of a parent or friend or dealing with a job layoff, knowing how to deal with grief is key to moving on in a healthy way.
Recently, HuffPost talked with Melissa Fisher Goldman, a licensed clinical social worker and member of the Association of Death Education and Counseling, as well as other therapists, about grief and how they personally get through it.
For starters, Goldman says not to judge your grief: “I had to remind myself that grief has no quantification. It looks different for everybody, including ourselves. Each time we deal with grief, it can feel different.”
Jaime Gleicher, a psychotherapist in New York, says to reach out and ask for help.
“When we think of asking for help, we think of solutions, like there’s something that’s going to fix this,” Gleicher told HuffPost. “We know innately as human beings that we’ve had a loss and no one can really bring that back for us. So we tend to not ask for help because it can be invalidating.”
Danielle Forshee, a licensed clinical social worker in New Jersey, suggests making plans with friends or family and sticking to them. “You need a break emotionally, mentally, physically. Do some things with your supports that have nothing to do with the loss. There has to be some sense of normalcy.” she suggests.
What about those five stages of grieving? Gleicher says it’s really more about acknowledging that your emotions could be all over the place. There isn’t a definitive rulebook for grief, but sticking to some of these pointers could help.
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