What is Degriefing?
As mentioned, grief involves changes in a person’s emotional, mental, spiritual and physical (somatic) states. Each person experiences grief differently from others and one’s own grief related responses will vary over the course of a lifetime. However, a common thread that helps describe grief is: the sum of these involuntary reactions to a loss creates a definite disharmony within the individual. The resulting condition, called grief, ranges from being mildly unsettling to intensely painful. The severity of the grief depends on a variety of factors. What makes grief unique? As stated, grief is a multi-faceted reaction. In addition to its mental and physical components, grief entails complex emotional changes. In contrast to simpler human conditions that might revolve around only one major emotion, grief entails many emotions that seem to overlap and intertwine. Rapid mood swings are commonly reported by the grieving. Grief also usually entails changes to one’s spiritual state, especia
Degriefing is the process of recognizing the mental and physical pain that accompanies grief and treating it with a combination of somatic therapies and psychotherapeutic tools. Degriefing can be used to unlock and remove grief from an individual’s body, and thereby heal not only physical symptoms, but mental and emotional wounds as well. It combines effective verbal counselling therapies with individualized physical care. The techniques used in the degriefing process are intended to ease a person’s emotional distress, mental anguish, and physical discomforts. The goal of degriefing is to unlock blockages that have developed in the body and shift them to a more harmonious state.
Degriefing is a form of supportive care aimed at people who are grieving; it may be offered to surviving family members of deceased individuals, people who work in stressful professions like nursing and firefighting, or to individuals who are struggling with other forms of grief and stress. Degriefing incorporates a wide range of therapies, from traditional psychological counseling to bodywork, and it is customized for the individual, recognizing the fact that grief affects people in very different ways. Grief is an intense emotion, and it can have a profound effect on someone. Many people struggle to cope with grief, sometimes developing negative habits or behaviors because they cannot handle the scope of the situation. Degriefing is designed to recognize the importance of grief while helping people to move through it in a constructive way. It also encourages the healthy expression of grief, rather than trying to suppress or marginalize grief. Psychological counseling can be a key par