Q1: What do grief therapists and support groups provide?

Q2: What are the goals of grief counseling?

Q3: When is professional intervention needed?

A:

• Information about the grieving process
• Nonjudgmental support
• They encourage and validate feelings and thoughts
• They reinforce positive change and help people heal
• They suggest coping techniques
  

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Q2: What are the goals of grief counseling?

A:

• To help the grieving person complete any unfinished business with the deceased and say goodbye to the deceased
• To help the grieving person identify feelings and express emotions
• To help the grieving person adjust to the loss
• To help the grieving person talk about the loss
• To help the grieving person adjust to living without the deceased and reinvest energy back into life
• To help provide time to grieve and help the person get through that time
• To educate the grieving person about "normal" grief behavior vs. "abnormal" grief behavior and keep that person within reality
• To provide continuing support

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Q3: When is professional intervention needed?

A:

• When the grieving person shows symptoms of dysfunction, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and suicidal tendencies
• Unrealistic expectations that the deceased will return to life
• Behavior that affects the grieving person's ability to work, handle everyday tasks, or take care of themselves
• Intense social withdrawal

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