Therapies for Grief & Bereavement in Southend-on-Sea, Essex

We offer therapies for grief and bereavement in Southend-on-Sea, Essex at The Body Matters. Therapy for these is available from our clinic based in Leigh-on-Sea, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. We also offer telephone & online support.

What is grief?

Grief is the reaction we have to a loss. This may be due to bereavement – the death of someone important to us, or other losses.

Sometimes we may feel grief, but feel it is a grief that is less socially acceptable to express than in other cases. Yet such losses will be felt as deeply as any other loss.

What are the types of grief?

Whilst for some the death of a pet, for instance, might be seen as a first-world problem, most people would recognise that pets are an important part of the lives of the individuals and families that have them. They are in a sense ‘one of us’.

The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Whilst this may be a natural process that people work through, there are aspects of losses that can make the process of recovery more difficult and involve the bereaved person becoming ‘stuck’.

Death of one’s child, a death by suicide, of a spouse, parent, sibling or friend or a loss during childhood might be examples here – and other factors such as the nature of the death and one’s relationship with the deceased can all make the ‘grief-work’ of mourning more problematic.

Coming back to the range of losses that we can experience, it is perhaps impossible to list all of these.

How has COVID-19 affected us?

COVID-19 alone has brought a huge range of losses on a global, but also personal level. More and more of us are experiencing the loss of friends, family members, work colleagues or neighbours. In addition, people are losing their livelihoods - and businesses that they have spent a lifetime creating. People will lose their homes – one of our most basic needs.

Again, although the loss of ‘pastimes’ or ‘hobbies’ could be seen by some as a first-world problem, it is not insignificant – these are things that people love – whether it is time spent eating out or in a pub or at a football ground or doing yoga. Events from music festivals to religious events, from family gatherings to weddings, cannot, at the moment take place.

There’s also the loss of our certainty and confidence. We can all still be confident that the sun will rise and set each day – but confidence in other things, has, for many, been eroded or shattered. Confidence that doctors’ surgeries and hospitals can deal promptly with day-to-day illness as they have in the past, that supermarkets will be well-stocked with essential items, that we can enjoy being in open spaces without restrictions, that we can pay our rent or mortgage for example.

For some elderly people, such losses may be much more acute. It is perhaps an outdated, or overly-simplistic stereotype to suggest that older people are less knowledgeable about making use of the internet – but for an elderly person who is not living in the vicinity of shops and doesn’t have access to the internet, life must be especially hard. Increasingly shops want payment by card rather than by cash – and social distancing means that long queues may form.

Where can I find help for grief and bereavement?

Whilst we will all have things to grieve, there are things that we can do to look after ourselves. Getting exercise, eating a well-balanced diet, and getting enough rest and sleep are all important (suggestions for many of these can be found in The Body Matters blogs!) Alcohol consumption could be limited if it is excessive and now would definitely be a good time to stop smoking. There are various apps for mindfulness and relaxation and of course, professional help is still available thanks to the internet.

Below you will find a list of therapies for grief and bereavement that are available at The Body Matters:

• Telephone & Online Counselling
• Hypnotherapy
• Meditation
• BWRT

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