Wade Van Staden

Looking for grief therapy in Grapevine, Texas? If so, we can help. Grief is a complex and awful thing to go through. Usually, there is no coaching on how to help someone through grief because our culture treats death in avoidant ways. It is only at the funerals or memorial services that people openly speak about the lost loved one directly, about mortality and the meaning of life. From then on, many try to avoid these topics as best they can. Death and grief are heavy topics, and it can be uncomfortable to navigate them. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid them, though. We should be able to support grieving friends as they deal with their loss in ways that aren’t complicated or hurtful. Helping a Friend Through Grief Grief isn’t an emotion that passes. When a person loses someone they loved, they will grieve that person for the rest of their lives. The first thing to know about grief, then, is that it never truly passes. Grief changes over time. At first, people might feel highly emotional, stressed out, and unstable. Weeks afterward, they might be withdrawn, quiet, and depressed. Months after that, they might be stuck in depression, or they might appear to have moved on, even if they are only masking their emotions. Grief is a unique process for every person. There are several things, though, that we can do for grieving friends that will hopefully help them. At least, we will have communicated that we care about our friend by trying any of these suggestions. Don’t be afraid of messing up. It’s always better to try and help a grieving friend than to avoid the topic entirely. Give space for complicated feelings and awkwardness Grief is messy and awkward. There is no training for it and no [...]