Grief Hypnotherapy Falkirk
Grief describes the numerous thoughts and feelings we experience when we lose something or someone we love and value. Grieving comes in many forms and may not necessarily involve the death of a person, although it is the most widely known cause of bereavement; we can find ourselves grieving at the end of a relationship or a friendship, at the loss of a job or of financial security, after a miscarriage, because of infertility, or because of serious illness or disability – our own or someone we love; or even at the death of a pet. The more central to our lives the thing we have lost, the greater the sense of loss and grief. Grief is a natural and healthy emotional response to the loss of someone we love or something we value.
The way grief affects you depends on many things, such as the nature of the loss, your upbringing, your beliefs or religion, your age, your relationships, and your physical and mental health.
You can react in many ways to a loss. Grief is often described as have several different anxiety and helplessness often come first. Anger is also common, including feeling angry at someone who has died for ‘leaving you behind’. This is a natural part of the grieving process, and you shouldn’t feel guilty about that. There’s also sadness, which often comes later. Knowing that these emotions are common can help to normalise them. It is very important to know that they will pass. Some people take a lot longer than others to recover and need help from a Hypnotherapist, Counsellor, or Doctor. But eventually you’ll adjust to your loss, and the intense feelings usually subside. Give yourself time, grief does involve a period of adjustment. Be respectful of yourself and your grief. You might feel hopeless for a while but that will gradually pass. There is no instant fix. You might feel affected every day for about a year to eighteen months after a major loss. After this time, the grief is less likely to be at the forefront of your mind.
For some, grieving is a process which does not improve over time; it may even become worse. If this is the case for you, then you may experience continued feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, anger and blame, frequent intrusive thoughts about the person you have lost and about their death, preoccupation with your grief, or find that almost everyone and everything is a reminder of your loss. You may be unable to go about your daily routine or function normally. If this is the case, bereavement counselling and hypnotherapy can help to identify what is causing this “complicated grief” and give you strategies to help overcome it.
When to get help:
- You don’t feel able to cope with overwhelming emotions or daily life
- The initial intense emotions aren’t subsiding
- You’re not sleeping
- You have symptoms of depression and/or anxiety
- Your relationships are suffering
- You’re having sexual problems
- You’re becoming accident-prone
- You’re caring for someone who isn’t coping well
- Express yourself. Talking is often a good way to soothe painful emotions. Talking to a friend, family member, health professiona or counsellor can begin the healing process
- Allow yourself to feel sad. It’s a healthy part of the grieving process. Crying enables your body to release tension
- Maintain a schedule. Expert Linda Blair recommends keeping “simple things in your routine. It reduces the panicky feelings. It’s important that you see other people at least once a week because it grounds you.”
- Sleep. Emotional strain can make you very tired. If you are having trouble sleeping, make an appointment to see a Hypnotherapist or for drug therapy contact your GP
- Avoid things that “numb” the pain, such as alcohol. It will make you feel worse once the numbness wears off
- Book an appointment to see a Hypnotherapist, if it feels right for you, but perhaps not immediately. Your emotions can overwhelm you at the beginning. Hypnotherapy and Counselling may be more useful after a couple of weeks or months. But only you know when you’re ready
Hypnotherapy for Bereavement
Hypnosis is an excellent help for bereavement, because the techniques are able to teach you how you can consciously decide to think a certain way about your loss. Your mind is quite powerful, and changing its thought patterns from grief stricken sadness and anger to love and memories can go a long way toward help with bereavement. Through grief hypnosis, you will still have your memories – but they will be less charged with painful feelings, allowing you to be able to talk openly, should you wish, without the fear of being overcome by gushing emotions.
As a clinical hypnotherapy, Heather is experienced in a number of techniques which provide you with healing and, in certain circumstances, with closure. One such technique is Cording, which allows you to speak to the person (or pet, if this is the case) who has passed on. This safe, gently interactive technique allows you the opportunity to say things that perhaps were not said, due to many circumstances. The subconscious mind does not distinguish between what is real and what is imagined and the experience is vitally personal. One person may feel that just the ACT of “pretending” to speak with his/her departed loved one is cathartic while others perceive that they have ACTUALLY spoken to his/her loved one “one the other side”. Whatever your beliefs may be, there is no denying the calm and peace that emerges from experiencing this amazing moment.
In conjunction with Cording Heather uses a combination Direct Suggestion and Indirect Suggestion, to aid you with improving the quality of sleep (quite often seriously disturbed during deep grief). Help you deal with anxious thoughts and symptoms of sadness, loss, anger and guilt by suggesting letting go of negative thoughts and feeling and gives you positive suggestions for promotion of the healing process.
Hypnotherapy helps you to begin to move on, to begin to live your life again and to learn to enjoy yourself once more without feeling guilty. It allows you to find ways to remember the person (pet) you have lost, and to still feel that they are part of you and part of your life.