Grief Journaling
Grief is a complex journey filled with a myriad of different emotions. These emotions can change within the hour as we experience “grief triggers” causing us to remember the people and things we have lost. Grief comes not just by losing someone due to death, but can also show up in many other areas including divorce, separation, sickness, major life changes and transitions, and many more.
Everyone’s journey with grief looks different and no one way is better than another.
An important aspect in coping with our grief; however, is to feel it. This looks like facing all of the painful, confusing, complicated emotions that it brings. We have the opportunity in these moments to either blame ourselves for feeling the way we feel and be upset at ourselves for how long it’s taking us to heal or we can show compassion to ourselves knowing that grief is a rollercoaster ride filled with both easier days and harder days.
Getting support for the hard days is imperative. This support can look like seeing a counselor, joining a support group, spending time with loved ones, or even adopting a pet.
Another way we can support ourselves is making sure that we are creating space for those emotions when no one else is around. We can truly feel them by letting ourselves cry, scream, or release whatever emotions are buried inside.
Grief journaling helps us express the depth of what we’re going through in order to slowly begin rebuilding.
WRITE IT OUT! Write until you cannot write anymore. This can look like writing a fake letter to the person we lost, writing out memories, writing our every emotion we felt that day and more. Use this downloadable template to help you work through this!
After you do this, celebrate the fact that you took time to check in with yourself and journal out difficult emotions. That alone is something to be proud of!!
The only way to heal is to feel. So take a moment, and let yourself feel and be ok with right where you are today.
Written by: Betty Gebhardt
Originally posted on Grow Counseling