How to Manage Bereavement
Bereavement has a definite beginning but no predictable end. How you manage your bereavement recovery will determine how long it takes to regain your former composure. Avoiding, or repressing the feelings of sadness and the need to cry will sabotage your recovery efforts.
A bereavement recovery program that focuses on feelings and emotions will net the best results in the shortest amount of time. Step by step instructions mixed with poetic references will put you in touch with feelings that can be documented and worked through. Such a comprehensive approach shows positive results within a few weeks. Today there is no need to suffer bereavement or grief for years on end.
I instructed my clients to read specified material and journal about their feelings as we proceeded with their bereavement recovery. These assignments were to be completed between meetings because the importance of work done outside the consulting room needed to be emphasized. Clients would complete their homework and report at the next session. Taking responsibility for their feelings grew in proportion to this work and was spurred on by a noticeable diminishment in pain.
After helping hundreds of individuals and families deal with grief and bereavement over the loss of loved ones, I noticed a pattern emerging in terms of steps and strategies for successful recovery. These recurring themes became the foundation for a new approach to bereavement recovery that would include poetry, reflections, storytelling and music along with the usual step by step instructions. A creative and functional approach had been established.
Audio narration helps to drive important points home while putting feeling into to the words on the page. All good books that help individuals navigate a difficult life experience are born this way. The experience of others, coupled with the writers training, intuition and poetic flair can give birth to a program that will serve future grief sufferers.
There are plenty of grief resources on the market today which draw on the experience of previous sufferers to shorten recovery times. In the past we relied on mythology and teaching stories to guide us through difficult times. These lessons were passed on from generation to generation and could be found in all cultures. Human experience created the mythology of the time just as it helps us develop better coping strategies today. Yesterday’s mythology morphed into today’s psychology filling the self-help section of bookstores with all kinds of resources.
Modern advances in our understanding of grief and bereavement recovery show clearly that a feeling based approach is the most effective. Dealing with feelings and emotions takes sufferers directly to their pain and that’s where healing takes place. This particluar focus also delivers the quickest and most permanent results. As already mentioned, this heart-based approach reveals that bereavement can be turned around within a few short weeks.
When feeling low we often turn to poetry and music to help us identify emerging feelings. A good grief recovery program will combine these elements with a well laid out plan of action. Journaling about feelings makes them real and helps move them through you while giving you a method you can use for any emotional crisis. Bereavement is a feeling based experience that benefits the most from this approach.
Your heart, your feelings, and your growing self-awareness are the keys to helping you heal your broken heart. You will travel this path with significantly less stress as a result of this detailed approach. No, it’s not easy, but it is a journey that can be won. Many have done so using these strategies and so can You!