Grief and Loss Counseling in Schwenksville, PA.

Grief affects our lives in many different ways. Often we are not aware of its impact physically, emotionally or spiritually or how a loss has impacted us even years later. REACH Counseling Services offers support that encompasses all these dimensions and understand that grief and loss can be healed and that life can move forward with hope and healing. We use a variety of approaches to help you deal with loss and grief.

My approach to counseling someone in a place of loss is to create a space for the raw, authentic emotions and thoughts that can, at time, be hard to say out loud. I also find it important to allow the grief process to unfold at the pace my client feels they need. I want to offer you a space where you go through all the emotions, express all the thoughts, and do all the things you need to to experience healing.

Grief is our response to loss. Grief, fully experienced, allows us to go on with life. Each person's response is unique. You may be grieving the death of a loved one; you may be dealing with a serious illness; you may be mourning the loss of a relationship; you may be dealing with the loss of a job. Wherever you are in the grief process, I offer a safe, empathetic relationship to guide you through the stages of anger, sadness, justifying, letting go. We will work together to facilitate healing.

When one person in a family experiences grief or loss, everyone is affected. Sometimes an entire family struggles to adjust to a death or a cross-country move or to a divorce. In any of these cases, a person's need for comfort can conflict with their emotions, causing confusion and conflict among people who are trying to support one another. In addition, children and teenagers can react to loss very differently than do adults, so the signs of pain or distress are not obvious. If there has been a loss for someone in your family or there is an impending loss (planned separation due to marital conflict, children leaving for college), I would welcome the opportunity to help.

Grief and loss are inevitable in life, and can be our times of greatest pain, and also sometimes, greatest growth. Most people think first about the death of a loved one when they think about grief, but it also be the loss of a home, a friend, a marriage, a job, and so on. These events can sometimes also lead to profound grief. Often friends don't understand or know what to say. Sometimes, they even seem to disappear, when you're needing them most. You're not alone if you've experienced some of these phenomena. I'd like to help you through this painful time.

Whether you are grieving due to the death of a loved one, ending of a significant relationship or the loss of the life you expected, it is a process. We all grieve for different reasons & in different ways, but it is important to allow yourself to grieve so that you can move forward. I'll work with you to understand the grief process including the stages of grief. An important part of the process is helping you identify & express the variety of feelings & thoughts you are likely experiencing. Often, human instinct is to avoid or numb what is painful. Unfortunately, this can prevent healing, extend the pain & create other problems. Instead, I'd like to help you find your way through the pain.

To help a client cope through grief and loss, I sometimes use the example of how an oyster forms a pearl. The oyster ingests a grain of sand that causes pain, and which cannot be removed or dissolved (just like we cannot eliminate the pain of missing a loved one). So the oyster begins to encase the grain of sand with layers of calcium-like substance, that makes the grain of sand easier to carry and hold, without the rough edges. Coping through grief and loss can involve learning how to unpack, experience, and adjust how we carry the pain. Therapy can help you soften and encase the pain of loss, forming a "pearl" around it that is easier to carry with you, and perhaps make it more precious.

This is a lived experience that we will encounter. We experience grief through the loss of a loved one, but we also grieve the loss of a friendship, job, church community, and things that we have cherished. What happens when we grieve? Who walks with us during our grieving journey? You do not have to experience or walk this new journey alone. A trusted therapist can help you create a safe space and walk with you.

Grief and Loss is an often overlooked experience of modern life. Death of a loved-one is usually when we acknowledge actively grieving. However, life is in many ways a series of losses (life shifts) and with each loss comes the necessity to grieve. When we do not navigate our losses with the process of actively grieving, each new loss compounds those that came before. Learning how to honour your heart as a source of strength and wisdom through loss - even though it's hurting - is your path to greater strength and resilience in life. Support is available through divorce/separation, ill health, unemployment, "empty nesters," loss of pet, trauma, loss of a relationship, moving, ageing.

Experiencing a difficult loss is disorienting and can feel paralyzing. It can also bring up pain from the past that you thought was long gone, or cause you to question your view of the world. This is difficult but normal. It is important to talk about your grief with someone who really understands. I offer a safe place to work through your grief in your own way, without rushing, without having to put on a pretend smile or a brave face. I cannot undo your loss, but therapy can help you begin to find meaning in it, to make sense of the world again, and to find practical ways to cope.

Losing a loved one can be incredibly debilitating, the grief often feels endless like a bottomless pit- mornings are awful and nights even worse. I provide empathic grief counseling with a proactive style to help individuals walk through this pain and learn to live their life with peace again. When you feel like you need more to lean on than family and friends, help is here.

Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D approaches issues of grief & loss through the lens of innovation----instead of growing the same neural networks responsible for the pain in weekly therapy sessions, we reset the brain to move forward quicker and efficiently by working on the stuck limbic system so as to empower the person with more success and traction. For no one wants to stay in a grief mode for too long; but when you don’t include the brain in your work with someone, you risk describing the water to them while they drown and calling it success. Contact Grey Matters International, Inc now at kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

EMDR allows clients to remember emotional pain and loss without suffering the intense negative feelings that go along with it. In doing so, clients can begin to heal, move on, and even remember some great memories lost in all the pain. Traditional talk therapy helps normalize the various interlapping stages of grief. I also help clients re-evaluate their relationships that so often change as a result of loss.