Grief & Bereavement
Posted on 10/22/2008 06:25 pm by adminSharing during a grieving period is one of the best means of therapy for sadness and mourning. Whether sharing your thoughts and feelings in a private way, like writing in a journal or sharing your grief with others at a meeting or online, getting the emotions out can have a dramatic benefit.
Below are a few suggestions for coping with grief by communicating your feelings.
Join a support group
Clinics, hospitals and social services around the U.S. provide grief therapy and bereavement support groups for people that are going through grief due to a death in the family. Search online or talk to a professional about support groups or meetings in your area.
Keep a Journal or Scrapbook
If you are not ready to talk openly about your feelings, don’t feel pressured. Instead, write your feelings into a journal or create a scrapbook expressing your feelings or honoring your loved one. Getting your thoughts on paper can often help you better understand where your pain is heaviest. It also helps you celebrate your loved one - writing down your memories is a great way to honor their memory. Some people write bereavement poems or plays in a journal expressing their grief.
Use Multimedia to Share Your Feelings
More and more people are creating video memorials honoring their loved one. This process is also therapeutic for the grieving. This is also true for the musically talented that may write lyrics or a song in honor of a loved one.
Create an Online Memorial
Online memorials are becoming popular ways to express your grief and honoring a loved one’s memory at the same time. While sharing the life story and photos of a loved one’s life is a great way for family and friends to remember a loved one for eternity, sharing those stories together is also a very helpful way to work through grief. You also get the support of others that visit the memorial and share their condolences with you.
Talk to Friends
Sometimes little things have just as big of an impact. if you are not ready to talk to bigger groups or share your thoughts in a broad way, find a friend or two that you can speak honestly and openly with. Just make sure to choose a friend that can lend a supportive ear.
