What Is Grief Counseling? 

Most people can deal with the grief they experience after a significant loss. For some, the experience of distress is so extreme or prolonged that they seek the help of a professional grief counselor.

An early, high level of distress “is one of the best predictors of later distress; it can show that the person is at risk for a poor bereavement outcome."

While grieving can seem natural, in earlier times, much of it was supported and facilitated through religious organizations, families, rituals, and customs. More recently, with changes in many of these areas, more people struggle to process intense loss and turn to counseling.

The goals of grief counseling

While grief can be associated with many forms of loss (including following a separation or divorce), here we focus on the processing related to bereavement. However, many of the concepts can be extrapolated to other aspects of living (American Psychological Association, 2022).

“The overall goal of grief counseling is to help the survivor adapt to the loss of a loved one and be able to adjust to a new reality without him or her."