Hypnotherapy for Grief and Loss
Personal Grief and Loss
In September 2022 I lost three beautiful and amazing women, one of whom I had admired from afar for the whole of my lifetime, Queen Elizabeth 11. The other two, I’d known for less time. Karen was just 53 a loved family member. Jayne was a mere 59 (not even middle aged she would insist) she was a newly made friend but we were very close friend.
Can we ever truly prepare for the death of a loved one, whatever the circumstances. If we are lucky enough to have loved ones who live a long healthy and happy life, their death, is to be expected. It is the natural order of things. However, for those who have not reached the latter years of life and who battle so bravely with short term life-threatening illnesses or who pass so very unexpectedly in their sleep at night. One could argue that this too is the natural order of things, but there is an injustice attached to this loss, as their lives having been cut far too short.
Life is to be celebrated and I sit in gratitude for each day that I draw new breath. With the passing of life I hold tightly onto treasured memories and take gratitide for having had the privilege to have shared special times with those that have gone before me. RIP lovely ladies.
GRIEF AND IT’S CAUSES
Grief is a natural response to loss, and usually includes a range of emotions such as sadness, anger, fear, and guilt. Hypnotherapy for grief and loss can help you deal with the normal feelings and range of emotions after a loss. Which can sometimes become overwhelming and can interfere with your ability to live your life. This is where hypnotherapy for grief and loss can help. Hypnotherapy can help you manage your grief and loss in a healthy way. It can help you to process your emotions and to let go of any that are no longer serving you. Hypnotherapy can also help you to develop healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with your grief. If you are struggling to manage your grief, hypnotherapy could be a helpful tool for you.
We will all experience grief and loss at some stage throughout our lives, and it manifests in many guises, not just the Grief and loss of a loved one.
Grieving the Loss of a Loved One
Grief is the process of mourning and coping with the death of a loved one. It is the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. The pain of grief can feel overwhelming. You may feel numb, have difficulty sleeping, or lose your appetite. These are all normal reactions to grief.
When you are grieving the loss of a loved one, it is natural to feel overwhelmed, it is important to find healthy ways to cope with your feelings. There are many self-help tools available to help you cope with your grief and begin to heal. First, it is important to understand that there is no “right” or “wrong” way to grieve. Grief is a very personal experience, and you will need to find what works best for you. There is no timeline for grief, and you may find yourself moving back and forth between different stages of grief.
It is also important to take care of yourself during this time. It is important to take care of both your mental and physical health, it’s the simple things like having a daily routine, maintaining a healthy diet, getting plenty of rest and sleep and taking regular exercise, will make all the difference. Avoid alcohol and drugs, which can numb your emotions and contribute to poor mental health.
“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
I have worked with many clients in helping them to manage their grief, this has included supporting them not long after the death of their loved one through the stages of grief. Also, unfortunately for some, supporting them many many years later. It is often with the passing of time that the realisation dawns that they’ve not fully dealt with their earlier loss which is continuing to have a negative impact on their lives. Which goes to illustrate there truly is no timeline for grief, sometimes it gets hidden so deep and only resurfaces when someone is able to fully heal.
The loss of freedom is a difficult and challenging thing to deal with. There are many things that can cause you to lose your freedom. Sometimes, it can be a major life event, positive and negative life changes e.g., new parent; career progression; debilitating mobility issues; adjusting to being newly divorced and adjusting to increased parental responsibilities; incarceration. It can be hard to cope with the loss of the ability to do things that you used to enjoy. Freedom is an important part of our lives, and when freedom is taken away, it can be hard to adjust, but adjusting to the changes can be achieved.
Losing your freedom can be a frightening and disorienting experience. For some, it may feel like a loss of control and a loss of identity. There are a few things that you can do to help accept and adapt to the loss. First, try to find things that you can do that you enjoy. It may be difficult to find things that you are able to do without your freedom, but it is important to try.
When you lose your sense of purpose, it can feel as though your life has lost all meaning. You may feel aimless and adrift, not knowing what to do with yourself or where to go next. You may no longer know who you are or what you are meant to be doing. This can be a very unsettling feeling.
“You will survive and you will find purpose in the chaos. Moving on doesn’t mean letting go” – Mary VanHaute
Purpose can give your life direction and meaning. It can motivate you to get up in the morning and face the day. When you lose your sense of purpose, you may find yourself struggling to find the motivation to do anything at all. There are many things that can cause us to lose our sense of purpose. Sometimes, it can be a major life event, such as the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship. Other times, it can be something more gradual, such as a sudden job loss. This can be a difficult and confusing time, but it is important to remember that everyone goes through periods like this at some point in their lives. It is perfectly normal to feel lost and uncertain at times, and there is no shame in admitting that you need some help to find your way again. There are many ways to rediscover your sense of purpose and hypnotherapy for grief and loss could be a helpful tool for you.
When you lose your sense of identity, you often feel lost and confused. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as a major life change or trauma. bereavement, divorce, retirement, or emigration. The sense of self can be shaken to the core, leading to feelings of disorientation, confusion, and isolation.
Without a strong sense of self, you can struggle to find meaning in your life. You may feel like they are just going through the motions, without any real purpose. It is important to remember that a loss of identity is not permanent, and that it is possible to rebuild a new sense of self.
I recall being made redundant prior to becoming a hypnotherapist and for me I truly experienced a loss of identity, but as the saying goes, as one door closes, another opens. It led me on to find my greatest passion in life ‘hypnotherapy’ … every cloud has a silver lining!
“Identity is a prison you can never escape, but the way to redeem your past is not to run from it, but to try to understand it, and use it as a foundation to grow.” – Jay Z
If you are struggling to find your sense of self, it is important to reach out for help. Hypnotherapy for grief and loss can help you explore your identity and find a way to connect with your inner self. This can be achieved through exploring new interests, pursuing new relationships, and engaging in meaningful activities. With time and effort, it is possible to create a new and fulfilling life after experiencing a loss of identity.
Losing your job can be a difficult and stressful experience. It is important to remember that you are not alone and that there are resources available to help you through this tough time. Remember, losing a job does not define you. It is a setback. Reach out for help, hypnotherapy for grief and loss can be a great way to help you manage your emotions, rebuild your confidence and emotional resilience so that you can begin to move forward.
The loss of a dream can be a devastating blow. It can feel like you have lost your identity, purpose, and freedom. Not only can it mean the end of a long-held aspiration, but it can also lead to a loss of job, identity, purpose, and freedom. It can be hard to cope with the loss of something you have worked so hard for This can be an especially difficult thing to grapple with if the dream was something that had been a part of your life for a long time. But it is important to remember that you are not alone. It is important to remember that it is possible to rebuild and create new dreams, even after a devastating loss.
The Five Stages of Grief (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross) The stages of grief are a well-documented process that people go through when they experience a major loss.
Though the stages were first defined in relation to the death of a loved one, they can also apply to any major loss, such as the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, or the death of a pet. It is important to understand these stages to work through your grief in a healthy way.
“The five stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – are often talked about as if they happen in order, moving from one stage to the other. You might hear people say things like ‘Oh I’ve moved on from denial and now I think I’m entering the angry stage.’ But this is not often the case
In fact, Kübler-Ross, in her writing, makes it clear that the stages are non-linear – people can experience these aspects of grief at different times, and they do not. happen in one order. You might not experience all of the stages, and you might find feelings are quite different with different bereavements” Understanding the five stages of grief (cruse.org.uk)
Hypnotherapy for grief and loss can help you manage in a number of ways
For example, it can help you to:-
- Process your emotions more effectively
- Providing techniques to deal with the pain and allow you to heal
- To understand and accept the reality of your loss
- To develop healthy coping mechanisms
- Can help you to relax
- Improve your sleep, boost your energy levels
- Achieve a greater sense of control
- Help you release negative emotions
- Access positive memories of the person or thing you have lost.
- Provide comfort and help you to start to move forward.
If you are struggling to cope with your grief, hypnotherapy for grief and loss can provide you with the support you need. Hypnotherapy can also help you to let go of your grief in a healthy way, and to move on with your life and find purpose after your loss. Hypnotherapy can help to break the cycle of negative thoughts and behaviours that can often accompany grief. It can also help to increase positive thinking and behaviours, and to promote healing and acceptance.
SELF-HELP TIPS
When you are grieving the loss of a loved one, it is important to find healthy ways to cope with your feelings. There are a number of self-help tools that can be helpful in managing grief. One helpful tool is to find a support group. Talking with others who are going through a similar experience can be very helpful. It can be a place to share your feelings and to receive support and understanding from others. Another helpful tool is to keep a journal. Writing down your thoughts and feelings can be therapeutic. It can help you to process your grief and to work through your emotions. There are also many books available about grief. Reading about how others have coped with loss can be very helpful, knowing you are not alone, can be so assuring.
Grief is a response to loss. It is a natural emotion that allows us to process our sadness and begin to heal. Though grief is painful, it is also a necessary part of the healing process.
I’ve worked with many clients to help them overcome grief and loss they’ve experienced in life, if you are interested in exploring hypnotherapy for grief and loss and want to learn how to use self-hypnosis to help you cope with your loss, please get in touch to learn more.
Dedicated to the Memory of: Three very special women who lost their lives in September 2022 Queen Elizabeth 11, Karen Jones and Jayne Jurisaar
I would also love to hear your thoughts on my blog and answer any questions you may have.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ON GRIEF AND LOSS
“Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don’t deny it, don’t be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever” – Rabbi Harold Kushner
“When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure “ Unknown
“When the heart grieves over what is has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left” Sufi Epigram
“You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you” – Brian Tracy
“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom” Rumi
“As much as it hurts, suppressing how you feel is like putting a lid on a pressure cooker and turning off the steam valve, eventually it will blow.” By expressing your emotions, you start the healing process” – M. Hunter
“You will survive and you will find purpose in the chaos. Moving on doesn’t mean letting go” – Mary VanHaute
“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” ―Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“Sometimes on the way to your dream, you get lost and find a better one .”
“Sometimes in life, we feel that our dreams are lost, look deep within you. Dreams are still inside of us, learn to fly again, the answer lies within your heart.”
“A lost dream is never a loss, it’s taking you where you need to be !” Nicci
Everytime you express your emotions, a little ,magic happens
Everytime you open your heart to life, a little magic happens
Everytime you let go of pain and love yourself deeply, a little magic happens
Everytime you place your trust in a higher power, a little magic happens
USEFUL LINKS:-
Get help with grief after bereavement or loss – NHS (www.nhs.uk)