Hypnosis for the Grieving Process

sad womanIn my 37 years of practice, I’ve helped many clients overcome the death of people they love.

Healthy grieving is being aware that although you can’t make new memories with the dead, you can still grow from the ones you had. The reality of this stage is rough for everyone. There is no time frame. And there are often regrets. When suffering causes you to withdraw from the world – and, in turn, withdraw from people – you are at risk for self-destruction.

The goal of therapy is to get you to understand that the loss will always be there. Dwelling obsessively in the past, at the expense of your everyday life and future, will only drive you into deeper despair. The challenge is tougher when you realize that you had based your entire existence on the person you lost. How do you live with yourself now?

Hypnotherapy is a way to help you define who you are individually. I teach you how to trust that, even with your loss, you have always been a complete person. That means you can socialize, improve, and develop without fear or guilt.  There is no need to let grief get the best of you.

Review my website for more info on coping skills and call me if you think you’ll need an appointment (212) 599-3195.

Can Hypnosis Help You Deal With Loss?

Hypnosis and dealing with griefWhen we talk about dealing with loss, we have to mention one thing…Humans have a built-in means of adapting to loss already, and while oftentimes we never truly move on by forgetting, we can find a natural, healthy rhythm after a tragedy.

We’ve evolved to adapt to a life without a loved one, or else we wouldn’t be here – our ancestors would’ve cried to death. So that’s the first thing I tell my patients who come to me for grief counseling: “You already possess the inner strength necessary to resolve this pain.”

When we talk about healing someone with grief, we’re talking then more about a timing issue: we want to resolve our inner turmoil sooner than later so we can get back on track.

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Grieving and Moving Forward: A Comment on the Washington DC Naval Yard Tragedy

For those of you who pay attention to the news, I’m sure you have all heard about the recent tragic events occurring in Washington DC, Monday, September 16. A former Navy reservist busted into the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 and injuring 8 people in a mass shooting, at what was understood to be a secure military facility.

While the primary suspect was apprehended and killed by police gunfire, the trauma still lingers for witnesses and families of the victims. Also, the delicate disposition of the American people has been, once again, flipped on its head and fraught with tragedy, due to acts of terrorism and senseless violence.

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Comment on the Tragedy in Newtown, CT: Grieving and Moving Forward

After the terrible tragedy in Newtown, CT on Friday, December 14th, I don’t write this blog post as a hypnotist but as a father of two girls, both of whom were six years old several years ago.

What happened at the Sandy Hook Elementary School was nothing short of a horror. It is an event that evokes our deepest empathy and soul-searching. Most of us are onlookers to this terrible event, and as onlookers who care about our fellow travelers through this life we try to do our best contribute…to help those who are suffering and to somehow prevent future horrors from occurring.

We can contribute our ideas for policy change. We can contribute more time to our own parenting, and in many other ways as well. I have this “measly” little blog in which I can contribute my own thoughts on how to overcome grief. I’m a professional at helping people, and I’d love to contribute by sharing with you what I’ve learned.

Moving On and Moving Forward

There is a difference between moving on and moving forward. Moving on is a rather cold concept that suggests removing, or even forgetting the past incident that warrants moving on from. For the parents and close relatives of those fallen Angels in Newtown, CT, I don’t suggest they move on; instead I suggest they move forward.

When you lose someone so precious to you it is very hard to think of anything else other than the black hole that has become your heart, but you must continue to live as a dedication to them. Start a scholarship, travel the world, do whatever you need to do to bring color to your loved one’s memory. He or She is not gone, nor are you hopeless, if there is dedication.

We can’t make sense of that tragedy. It goes beyond sense. What about making sense of mental illness that causes tragedy to occur? We can most likely make sense of that…but then what? We end up plaguing the event with more questions. Why is mental illness so destructive? Why does this world or our society allow for child murder? Why my child?

No matter what, grief takes us to the unanswerable. My advice is…don’t let it. Don’t try to make sense of it and drag yourself down that dismal road. Blame it to the Gods, to fate, to psychosis, to coincidence, or what have you. The important thing is that you face your tomorrow with a certainty that is yours and yours alone.

Again, my thoughts are with those affected, both directly and like myself, indirectly. May those little Angels hop from cloud to cloud, forever bathed in warm light.