Grief is a commanding, sometimes overpowering emotion, irrespective of whether our sadness originates from the loss of a loved one or from a terminal diagnosis we or someone we love have received.
We might find ourselves feeling numb, in a haze and removed from daily life, unable to carry on with regular duties while loaded with a sense of loss.
The loss can be physical (such as a death), social (such as divorce), or occupational (such as a job). Emotional reactions of grief may comprise anger, denial, guilt, anxiety, sadness, and despair. Physical reactions of grief may consist of sleeping problems, changes in appetite, physical problems, or illness. Our grief is as singular as our lives.
In my opinion, if there are no typical responses to loss, there are no stages of grief that fit every person or relationship. Too often, when a grieving person seeks professional help, they use the self-diagnosis of depression to describe themselves. Consequently, some professionals hurry to prescribe treatment with drugs. While pharmaceutical companies benefit from the over diagnosis of their drugs, the patients may find their grief numbed and extended by medicines they do not need.
In this case, whether you choose to take hypnotherapy or counselling, I will treat you with care, empathy and respect. I will listen to you in a non judgemental way offering the space to express your feelings and accompany you in your own grieving process.
Darkness
by Kirsti A. Dyer
My light and my life
provided me hope for a future,
a reason to live
and the strength to exist.
Suddenly extinguished,
taken away without warning.
I was abandoned,
left in the darkness
trying to survive
searching for any glimmer
on the distant horizon.
I stand precariously
on a piece of solid ground
barely large enough for my feet.
Around me, a vast expanse
of desolation and emptiness
for as far as I can tell.
It waits
with extending arms
to engulf and surround me
in a permanent shadow.
I remain tenuously balanced
on this small bit of solid footing
Providing me the last vestiges of hope,
Unsure where to turn
or how to find an escape.
No path in sight,
it has decayed into the abyss.
No light to guide my footsteps,
it has been withdrawn.
In complete blackness
I close my eyes
waiting to fall.
A light appears before me
no,
from within me.
I discover
a brilliance inside
An internal source of strength, power
and illumination.
This force surges through my body
filling me with courage.
I open my eyes once more in the darkness
finally lose my balance,
and descend
into the eternal night.
But in falling, I discover
that I possess wings.
With new courage, my own light,
and wings to save me
from the everlasting darkness
I take flight
high above the waiting chasm
towards a faint glimmer
far on the horizon
and hope.
