GREIF COUNSELING
There is no one way to mourn a significant loss. The pain and suffering we experience can be overwhelming at times. While many people move through grief normally you may need additional support.
No one’s grief is every the same, but there are several types of grief that often require the professional intervention of a behavioral health therapist. These include complicated grief, traumatic grief, or prolonged grief. These forms of grief may be associated with deaths that are sudden, violent, or traumatic events where multiple deaths occur.
However, complicated and prolonged grief frequently occur when trauma is not involved. Therapy can be beneficial in helping you move forward through all types of grief.
Some feelings or thoughts that indicate you should seek professional support to help you move through your grief are suicidal thoughts, loss of identity, unrelenting depression and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.
While many of these emotions are normal in the early stages of grief, if you are suffering with complicated or prolonged grief they become more problematic. You may become more incapacitated, have difficulty functioning and be consumed by grief.
Our therapists can provide a level of support for you your friends and family cannot. There may be things that you want to talk about that you might not want others to know, or you might be concerned that you will be judged for your feelings.
If you are struggling with moving through your grief, self-activities like journaling or reading can be helpful. But it is important to have a non-judgmental professional therapist to tell your story to and to validate your feelings. The more support and understanding you can get, the easier it is to cope with your loss.
PRE AND POST WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY COUNSELING
Making the decision to have weight loss surgery is often a difficult one. We can help you process the psychological issues that might get in the way of your success. Post-surgery can be even more challenging.
After weight loss surgery the patient leaves the surgery center with a list of dos and don’ts. Psychotherapy at Pathways may be helpful if you’re:
- Experiencing anxiety or depression;
- Having difficulty sticking to the recommendations of you surgeon;
- Not feeling happy and healthy;
- Isolating yourself from friends and family;
- Drinking too much alcohol.
MANAGING SELF-DEFEATING BEHAVIORS
Mistakenly, we often use self-defeating behaviors to protect us from disappointment.
Some of the more harmful self-defeating behaviors are drinking alcohol, cutting, engaging in dangerous sexual practices and overeating.
Why you began to use them is a matter of debate. Some experts believe self-defeating behaviors have their roots in disappointment – the fear of disappointing yourself and disappointing others. So, you begin to create the expectation that defeat is just a part of life, and that anything that makes you happy is just a false hope. If you sabotage that hope before it has a chance to become a success, you avoid the pain of being disappointed.
Relying on these negative thoughts and behaviors can damage you physical, mental and emotional health. They can damage or destroy social and interpersonal emotional connections, spiritual growth, vocational and educational opportunities that prevent you from being financially stable.
Our therapists can help you identify why you use self-defeating behaviors, identify the triggers that initiate self-defeating behaviors and finally help you manage a healthly and appropriate reaction to your triggers.