How to Begin to Heal From Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Counseling for anxiety, depression and grief sharply increased since the pandemic, and it has been more common for us to acknowledge that we may be in pain, in sorrow, and in grief. Since the outburst of COVID-19, the pandemic has not only created stress, anxiety and uncertainty about the future, but it has also made us feel some type of loss. The healing process takes time and effort for us to heal globally and individually.
What Have We Lost?
The pandemic has prevented many of us from being able to reunite with family and friends to attend important celebrations or significant moments due to restrictions, traveling bans, and social distancing rules. It can mean we aren’t able to attend a family funeral because they are living outside of the country, or it can mean that we can’t say our last goodbyes to our loved ones while they are passing from COVID or another type of illness. On the other hand, it can also mean that we may not attend our best friend’s wedding if they are overseas, or be in the hospital to witness our newborns being delivered. With all of these examples of what we are losing, grief also means that we are losing time that we are not spending with family.
Options to Help with Healing
1. Find support groups/ attend group therapy
Finding a group of people whose experiences resonate with you certainly helps. When you attend support groups or participate in group therapy, you get to meet with others who get what you’re experiencing. This can normalize what you’re experiencing and help you gain new perspectives and insights.
2. Take care of your mental health
It is more common to seek mental health services nowadays, and talking to a therapist can certainly help with healing. Talking to a professional about our grief, loss or trauma can help us understand the triggers and reasons that we think, feel and behave in certain ways. Therapy can give us the support, coping skills, and insight we need to move forward.
3. Practice self-love
It is important to love ourselves and to believe in loving ourselves. Negative thoughts and difficult emotions are hard to sit with, so it’s vital that we can have self-compassion.
Practicing self-love by having gratitude for ourselves or by writing and journaling about the positive qualities we see in ourselves, can help ease difficult emotions.
4. Develop a ritual that is meaningful
We can establish a ritual that has a meaningful connection with our loved ones, those who are far away and/or those who have passed, so that we may be able to connect with them in a way that is important for us.
Healing together
As the pandemic continues, so does our need for healing. If you find yourself dealing with the loss of your loved ones or grieving the time of not spending time with your family, we hope that these approaches can be helpful for you. Many people are experiencing challenging times due to COVID-19, so it’s important that we can find ways to cope, heal, and support one another.
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Interested in Counseling for COVID-19 Related Depression, Grief and Loss, or Trauma?
If you’re a Marylander who knows that counseling is the direction you need to take, the therapists at LifeSpring Counseling Services are here to help. We offer online counseling services for mindfulness, depression, anxiety, trauma, and grief and loss. We also offer Brainspotting as a specialized service, and Brainspotting can be done online, too!
Here’s how you can get started! Online counseling for COVID-19 related depression, grief and loss, and trauma aren’t the only services offered at our Maryland office
The counselors and social workers at our Maryland office also offer counseling services for trauma, grief and loss, boundary setting, communication skills, and difficult life transitions. We also offer specialized counseling services including Brainspotting and spiritually-integrated counseling. Because we are located next to several local universities, we also work with college students and international students.
Written by: Alice Zhao, LCPC
Photo Credit: Timur Weber, Alexandr Podvalny, RODNAE Productions, and Thirdman
Date of Download: 12/27/2021
