Grief and Loss

Grief and loss come in many forms, and does not necessarily involve the death of someone. We can mourn the loss of a relationship, the loss of a job, the expectations we had about a parent or someone we look up to. Unfortunately, in our society many of us don’t necessarily know how to grieve or we believe there is a “right” or “wrong” way to go about it. A lot of this may be based on an old understanding of grief that posits we go through stages of grief, one after the other. And how often do we hear “you just need to move on?”

When we experience the loss of someone we know or love, more and more research is being done on the idea of “continuing bonds”, and re-evaluating the belief we have to “let go and move on.” At Oregon City Counseling we believe that the grief process isn’t a linear process and looks different for everyone, across differing communities, cultures, and value systems. 

 A lot of the work we do here is based on Attachment Theory and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. George Engel believes that the “process of mourning as similar to the process of healing” (Worden, 2009) and part of our work together is facilitating that in a safe and comforting space in walking alongside you in that process.