“Grief is not a problem to be solved, but an experience that needs to be witnessed”
Grief Support in Nashville
If there were ten people who each experience the death of their mother, there could be some similarities in their experience, but their grief would be unique to them. And even despite the uniqueness, there can still be connection and community around grief as well. This is just one of the many facets of grief that I find fascinating and the reason I thoroughly enjoy helping people navigate their grief.
I work from a person centered approach in meeting you where you are on any given day. My goal is to create a supportive, accepting, courageous space to explore your grief.
There is no right or wrong way to grieve. Grief work is not passive: it implies an ongoing practice of deepening, attending and listening to what comes up.
My own experience with grief
I have experienced many moments of grief throughout my life. The biggest was my father’s unexpected death. I was 20 years old and he had a short period of two weeks from liver cancer diagnosis to his death. It’s been over 24 years since he died and he still flashes into my thoughts everyday in some capacity. I might see 222 (his lucky number) or a monarch butterfly (his favorite) swoops by. Those moments bring a smile to my face and I might utter a, “hi papa,” depending how I’m feeling that day. He appears in my dreams sometimes too. I tell stories about him to my partner and daughter, so his spirit lives on in spoken word. Some years, anniversaries and birthdays bring up big emotions while others not so much.
Other changes in life have brought grief too. Divorce, moving to a new city, loss of friendships, just to name a few. I’ve experienced grief as a parent as my daughter continues to grow. There have been many “last times,” which don’t get any clear fanfare such as the last time she could still fit curled up on my chest to take a nap, the last time she had me read to her at rest time or missing the countless days we spent together as I was a stay-at-home father. I’ve even been experiencing grief around, “little deaths,” witnessing my mom’s cognitive decline with dementia. Sad holds grief’s hand. I hold my mom’s hand and love holds us both.
All of the grief have become intertwined like a system of roots or branches of a tree. Love, sadness, joy, gratitude all connected. I continue to stay curious about my grief and try to embrace what comes up for me. I leave you with a simple acrostic poem I wrote:
Gone completely, never
Returns without words
I feel you
Emotion companions abound
Friend, you are
I would be honored for the opportunity to help support you on your grief journey. If interested, please schedule a complimentary consultation to see if you think we could be a good fit.