A Devastating Blow
When our third child died after living for only forty days, I felt devastated, overwhelmed, and lost. Even as a professional counselor, I felt inadequately prepared to care for myself, my wife, and my kids.
Life was an emotional roller coaster as we sought to heal and rebuild our lives. I eventually began working as a counselor again, but I largely steered away from people struggling with grief and loss because I was still hurting so much over our son’s death.
I tried to heal my heart, but nothing could close the gaping wound in my chest. My wife and I participated in a grief support group, I read grief books, I journaled about our loss, and much more. But when I thought or spoke about our son, the profound pain would well up within me quickly.
Almost four years after our son died, I was interviewed about our journey with our son from my perspective for a men’s ministry podcast at our church. I ended up crying throughout most of the conversation. I had to stop multiple times to regain my composure.
It was painfully clear that four years later, I had made little progress on my healing journey.
Getting Unstuck
Thankfully, it was around that time that I got introduced to The Grief Recovery Method®. I heard of it through Ashley Mielke. Ashley is a Canadian psychologist who experienced a tragic loss in grad school and also struggled to heal until she found Grief Recovery.
When she shared about the research backing up The Grief Recovery Method® that other grieving techniques cannot claim, I was admittedly skeptical. But I did some research and began to read The Grief Recovery Method Handbook. About halfway into the book, I knew I had to experience the technique myself.
After I went through the The Grief Recovery Method® program, my healing made a quantum leap forward. I finally felt free of the pain, shame, and isolation that had me trapped since my son’s death. I was able to say goodbye to all the unrealized hopes and dreams I had for my son’s life.
Of course, I will always miss him. But I am grateful that I can now move forward and honor his memory with my work by helping others heal from their grief and losses.
Here are the reasons that I think The Grief Recovery Method® is the best technique to help grieving people heal from their losses.
Why The Grief Recovery Method® Is the Best Grief and Loss Therapy
1. It is the only evidenced-based Grief Recovery program in the world.
Research conducted by Kent State University has shown that The Grief Recovery Method® approach to helping grievers deal with the pain of emotional loss in any relationship is effective.
In fact, it is the only Grief Support Program to have the distinction of being evidenced based. You can read more about Kent State’s research here.
2. The Grief Recovery Institute has been helping grievers for almost 40 years.
In 1977, John W. James and his wife were expecting their second child. Their were complications in the pregnancy and their son was born prematurely. He died after two days.
John was crushed. He explored every resource he could in those days and found nothing that worked to help him through his pain. His journey through trial and error to pursue healing is what became The Grief Recovery Method®.
John ended up having more and more people come to him for help with their grief, and he founded The Grief Recovery Institute in the mid 1980s. Today, Grief Recovery Method programs can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
3. The Grief Recovery Method® delivers results.
I am admittedly and unapologetically biased towards The Grief Recovery Method® because it helped me heal from my most devastating loss. In my work as a counselor, I have always been drawn towards techniques that have strong data behind them because I want to use techniques that delivers results for my clients.
As I continue to share these tools and tips with clients and meet more people who have been impacted by The Grief Recovery Method®, I have found that I am far from alone in being changed by it. Now over 500,000 people have found healing from their losses thanks to The Grief Recovery Method®.
4. It helps with all the 43 + types of losses we can experience.
The Grief Recovery Method® isn’t a tool that’s only appropriate to use when a loved one dies. It can help with divorce, pet loss, job loss, loss of health, loss of trust, and much more. In fact, Grief Recovery is helpful to people working through any of the over 43 types of loss that have been identified.
5. You can go through the Grief Recovery Method® in 7-8 sessions.
It doesn’t take years to go through and heal using The Grief Recovery Method®. You can go through its program individually in 7 weeks, and in 8 weeks in a group format.
After you go through its program, you will have learned all the tools you need to work on each loss you have experienced in your life. To be clear, I am not saying that after 7 to 8 sessions you will be healed from every loss you have encountered. You need to work through each loss individually.
But after those initial 7 to 8 sessions, you will have all the tools you need to work through each and every loss in your life. All you need is a safe person (anyone else you trust who has experienced an intense emotional loss can be an ideal partner) to go through the process with you.
Here is a painful but true reality: you can attend therapy for years and make little headway on your grief.
The Grief Recovery Method® can help you find the healing for your heart that you yearn for.
Where Should You Start?
If you want to learn more, I highly recommend getting a copy of The Grief Recovery Method Handbook at Amazon, see if your public library has a copy, or get a copy from The Grief Recovery Institute.
If you would like to learn more about the various Grief Recovery programs and how they can help you heal, you can contact The Grief Recovery Institute to find out about offerings in your area.
If you are an Ohio resident, I am honored to offer The Grief Recovery Method® to my clients, through my counseling practice, Oak Harbor Counseling Services. Oak Harbor is conveniently located in northern Columbus, Ohio. Please contact me at [email protected] with any questions or for more information.
