Z oe L ockert, MA, MFTI
Supervised by Frieda Ferrick, MFT 30819

“Tears are the silent language of grief” ~ Voltaire












  Updated - 01/01/2008
  Copyright 2007 - 2008
  All Rights Reserved

 


Zoe has over ten years experience in grief counseling & bereavement. Her approach draws on her clinical training in psychology & her personal experience with loss. Zoe also facilitates an Infant & Pregnancy Loss Support Group for Sutter VNA& Hospice. Zoe is a member of RESOLVE & leads groups for couples dealing with infertility.

THESE ARE ALL NORMAL GRIEF RESPONSES

People who suffer a loss may experience the following:

  • Have difficulty concentrating, are forgetful & aren’t able to finish tasks
  • Feel a range of emotions including sadness, anger & guilt
  • Have the need to tell & retell stories of the relationship & loss
  • Experience mood shifts over the slightest things
  • Cry at unexpected times; having sudden “grief attacks”
  • Experience an intense preoccupation with the life of the deceased
  • Feel physical pain such as tightness in throat & chest
  • Have difficulty sleeping
  • Feel as though the loss is not real

The journey through grief can be heartbreaking. The relentless emotional stress — the colossal life change, the family disrupt, the loneliness, touch every aspect of a person’s life. Family & friends often aren’t prepared for the amount of time & energy grieving takes for the mourner. Seeking therapy can provide a sacred space to continue sharing the complicated emotions of grief. Healing requires gentleness, loving care, & time.

Coping with the death of someone close to you can be one of the most difficult experiences of your life. Grief Counseling can offer needed support, as well as help with the stress of coping with a traumatic change. Dealing with a loss of a loved one is tremendously difficult. Losing someone we love is one of the most traumatic of life’s experiences. Many factors can add to your grief process, such as, how the person died, your support system, your financial situation, your spiritual beliefs & your relationship with the deceased.

Each person’s grief will be distinctive, determined by a unique combination of psychological, social & physiological factors.


Factors that influence Grief Reaction:

  • The unique nature & meaning of the loss sustained or the relationship severed.
  • The individual qualities of the relationship lost.
  • The roles that the deceased occupied in the family or social system of the griever.
  • The individual’s coping behaviors, personality, & mental health.
  • The individual’s past experiences with loss & death.
  • The individual’s social, cultural, ethnic, & religious backgrounds.
  • The individual’s sex-role conditioning.
  • The individual’s age;
  • The characteristics of the deceased.
  • The amount of unfinished business between the griever & the deceased.
  • The individual’s perception of the deceased fulfillment in life.
  • The immediate circumstances at the time of death.
  • The timeliness of death.
  • The individual’s perception of preventability.
  • The sudden versus expected death.
  • The length of illness prior to death.
  • Anticipatory grief & involvement with the dying patient.
  • The number, type, & quality of secondary losses.
  • The presence of concurrent stresses.
  • The individual’s social system.
  • The educational, economic, & occupational status of the bereaved.
  • The funeral rituals.
  • Drugs & sedatives.
  • Physical health—nutrition, exercise & sleep.

Counseling Can Help

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