Grief and Loss Specialty Counseling

At Profound Treatment, we recognize that unresolved grief and loss are often foundational to struggles with dual diagnosis. Yet, few treatment centers offer a supportive space for the grieving process with trained grief therapists. To meet the need for grief support, we offer a specialized service that sets us apart from other treatment centers. We provide one-on-one grief and loss counseling led by Marco Pardo, LAADC, our dedicated Grief and Loss Specialist. Making us not only a drug and mental health treatment center, but a grief support center. At our grief support center, each client can find the support they need for a comprehensive, whole-person healing process.

As a grief counselor, Marco brings over 30 years of experience in the behavioral health field to address your needs. He holds the esteemed Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LAADC) credential, which makes him an expert in the challenges you may experience on your recovery journey. With expertise in trauma-informed care and bereavement support, Marco provides individualized psychotherapy to clients navigating the pain of grief.

Whether your grief stems from death, relational loss, or other major life transitions, Marco and the Profound community are here to support you. His work gives you a non-judgmental, safe space for processing grief and other emotional wounds that may otherwise block recovery.

What Is Grief?

In general, as noted in “Grief” from the Cleveland Clinic, grief is the emotional and physical response to loss. Grief can include a wide range of difficult emotions that are both painful and overwhelming. Some of the difficult emotions you may associate with grief include:

  • Physical and psychological distress
    • Fatigue, restlessness, poor appetite, and trouble sleeping or sleeping more
  • Anxiety and confusion
  • Sadness and anger
  • Intense feelings of regret, remorse, or sorrow
  • Feeling helpless or hopeless
  • Obsessively dwelling on the past
  • An intense yearning
  • Apprehension about the future

The loss of something or someone contributes to intense feelings that impede daily functioning. Although everyone’s needs and experiences are different, grief counseling can be an invaluable tool for processing grief.

Understanding Grief Counseling

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), grief counseling is when a trained grief counselor or grief support groups help you work through the difficult emotions that follow a loss. Several forms of grief counseling can address your or a loved one’s needs for healing:

  • Grief therapy
    • Addresses difficult emotions and the behavioral and physical challenges that arise after a loss
  • Complicated grief therapy
    • Addresses complicated grief symptoms that can be disruptive and lead to long-term impairment and harm
      • Harmful thinking patterns
      • Dysfunctional behaviors
      • Poor emotional regulation
  • Traumatic grief therapy
    • Addresses grief that develops from a sudden and/or unexpected loss
      • Helps reduce the intensity of your emotions and the symptoms of your trauma
      • Equips you with healthy coping skills

Access to comprehensive grief therapy in Los Angeles, California, can support you on your recovery journey.

Difference Between Grief, Mourning, and Bereavement

The terms grief, mourning, and bereavement are often used interchangeably. However, grief, mourning, and bereavement do not mean the same thing. According to NCI, grief is your emotional response to loss and is often associated with the loss of a loved one.

In contrast, mourning is the way that you show your grief in public. Mourning is a reflection of your beliefs, culture, and/or religious practices, and can include the types of clothes you wear, the ceremonies you attend, the kinds of foods you prepare, and the activities you engage in. It is through the practice of your beliefs, culture, and/or religion during the mourning process that healing takes place.

Your mourning highlights the process of adaptation to significant life transitions. Moreover, mourning helps you learn to accept change while maintaining a meaningful connection to the person or thing you have lost. Bereavement, on the other hand, is the period of sadness that follows a loss like the death of a loved one. Grief and mourning take place during the bereavement period.

Understanding the Different Causes and Types of Grief

Most people associate grief with the loss of a loved one. However, grief can go beyond the death of a loved one. There are numerous things and experiences that people can feel great sadness and grief over. Listed below are some of the different causes of grief beyond the death of a loved one:

  • Loss of a pet
  • Terminal illness
  • Chronic health conditions
  • A miscarriage
  • An abortion
  • Separation
  • Divorce
  • A breakup
  • Ending a friendship
  • Estrangement
  • Losing your job
  • Significant life transitions
    • Moving
    • Becoming an empty nester
    • Retiring
  • Letting go of your dreams
  • Growing up
  • Loss of a version of yourself that can no longer exist
  • Losing your sense of safety after a traumatic experience

In addition to different causes of grief, there are different types of grief as well. There is no right or normal way to experience the grieving process. However, some different kinds of grief highlight symptoms and reactions that do not quite fit into typical grief responses:

Typical or Common Grief

  • You can still meet demands and participate in daily activities
  • Numbness, anxiety, sadness, crying, guilt, and fatigue
  • Bursts of intense distress
  • Over time, symptoms lessen in intensity and happen less frequently
  • The grieving process typically lasts between 6 months and 2 years

Complicated Grief

  • The distress does not decrease in intensity over time
    • Impedes daily life
  • You are stuck in bereavement as you are unable to accept the loss
    • In the case of the death of a loved one, you may experience an intense longing for them, you seek them out in familiar places, and you may even feel like life is not worth living without them

Anticipatory Grief

  • An emotional response to an expected loss
  • You start grieving before the loss occurs, either as the one with a terminal illness, a close loved one, or as a caregiver
    • The anticipated loss of a loved one with a terminal illness or a loved one in hospice
    • Anticipating the loss of elderly pets, grandparents, or parents
    • Retirement or layoffs
  • Anticipation can lead to a refusal to participate in the grieving process, or help prepare you for the loss

Abbreviated Grief

  • You move through the grieving process faster than expected

Disenfranchised Grief

  • A loss that feels like it is not or cannot be openly acknowledged, publicly mourned, or socially supported
    • This loss can be intensified when you are or were the caregiver for a loved one
  • Your loss is devalued or stigmatized by others or society
    • The loss of a pet, a job, or a friendship
    • Stigmatized by the loss of a limb, a miscarriage, or the death of a loved one from suicide, murder, or an overdose
    • Unrecognized relationships
      • Grieving for a co-worker, classmate, neighbor, or public figure
      • You are denied the same sympathy or space as relatives to grief for a friend or a same-sex/same-gender partner
  • Makes processing grief more difficult

Delayed Grief

  • Difficult emotions are felt days, weeks, or months later
    • Shock can delay processing those difficult emotions
    • Distracted by handling the practical aftermath of a loss, like funeral and estate planning
  • Inhibited grief
    • The act of repressing difficult emotions
      • You lack the tools for a healthy grieving process
    • Many people are not taught how to recognize or process loss
      • Leads to a subconscious repression of your emotions
        • Symptoms may manifest as physical symptoms
          • Stomach pain, anxiety, and insomnia

Cumulative Grief

  • You experience multiple losses at the same time or close together
    • The death of multiple loved ones
    • Grieving the loss of a child
    • The end of a marriage following the loss of a child
    • Life transitions
      • Finding your identity after becoming an empty nester
      • Rediscovering or redefining your relationships as an empty nester

Collective Grief

  • Experiencing grief as a group
    • Wars, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, and mass violent events like school shootings
  • Group grief changes the way people view themselves, the world, and how they live

The different types of grief highlight the diversity in how people experience, respond, and engage in the healing process. Loss is common, but the grieving process is unique to each person and deserves a non-judgmental and supportive space for whole-person healing.

The Stages of Grief

Many people are aware of the theory known as the five stages of grief. The five stages of grief are a theory developed by Dr Elizabeth Kübler-Ross in 1969 through her studies talking to terminally ill individuals. Through her studies, she uncovered the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Denial is an effort to protect yourself from the pain of an upsetting new reality. Anger follows as you acknowledge the reality of this loss. Depending on the type of loss, you may grow angry with yourself or others, such as family members and clinicians.

After anger comes bargaining, in which you attempt to regain control over your loss. Bargaining can come in many different forms, like trying to atone for misattributed guilt or sins you feel are responsible for this loss. Then comes the not unexpected depression, where you experience symptoms like sadness, anhedonia, and fatigue. Finally, you reach the final stage of grief, acceptance. With acceptance, you recognize the reality of your loss. Instead of trying to fight it, you spend your time reflecting and finding joy in your time with a person or thing you are losing.

The five stages of grief were not developed to provide a linear path to grief. Rather, they are supposed to help you create a non-judgmental, safe space for more self-empathy and support in the grieving and healing process. Yet, the general public’s understanding of the five stages of grief has become simplified as the only option for the process of grief. You do not have to go through all or any of the five stages for the healing process to happen. There is no right or wrong way to grieve as loss comes in many different forms and emotions.

For many people, the process of grief and the healing process is more like a roller coaster. There will be ups and downs and highs and lows as time passes on your grief journey. The pain of your loss does not go away, but with a supportive space and community, its intensity can decrease as you learn how to live and thrive beyond your loss.

Relationship Between Grief and Addiction

Everyone copes with grief in different ways, and for many people, the instinct is to avoid those difficult emotions. No one wants to be in a state of emotional pain that feels never-ending. However, emotional pain coupled with a few or no coping tools can lead to unhealthy coping strategies.

Substance abuse is an example of unhealthy coping that can arise from the distress of sadness, anxiety, and anger that comes with grief. You may overconsume alcohol and or recreational drugs, misuse prescription drugs, or start taking illicit drugs. Thus, there is a strong relationship between bereavement, addiction, and mental health conditions.

The loss of a loved one or witnessing death is a particularly traumatic experience, like war and overdoses. Those traumatic experiences can further increase your risk for developing substance use disorder (SUD) and/or co-occurring mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In addition, substance use itself can also contribute to a sense of loss and grief that can impede the healing process. Using drugs and alcohol as a coping tool can lead to a variety of devastating losses, such as unemployment, divorce, estrangement, or losing custody of children.

You may also grieve the loss of drugs and alcohol as your one constant companion. Losing other significant parts and people in your life because of your substance abuse can make you feel like those substances are all you have left. Therefore, grief and loss treatment in Los Angeles is invaluable in addressing the grief that comes with loss, life transitions, and SUD-related loss.

Psychotherapy for Grief and Co-Occurring Conditions

Grief therapy can incorporate a wide range of psychotherapies and modalities to support your grief journey. Some of the most effective psychotherapies for bereavement and co-occurring conditions include:

  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
  • Mindfulness practices
    • Breathing exercises
    • Journaling
  • Grief support groups
  • Art therapy
  • Lean on your loved ones for support
  • Creative activities to express difficult emotions
    • Scrapbooking
    • Writing poetry
  • Try to maintain your hobbies and interests
  • Practice self-care
    • Exercise
    • Hiking
    • Meditation
    • Yoga
    • Eat nutritious food regularly
    • Practice good sleep hygiene
  • Try to plan for potential triggers
    • Anniversaries
    • Holidays
    • Special locations
    • Important milestones

Through grief therapy in Los Angeles, California, you can access diverse services and a non-judgmental community in our grief support groups for long-term recovery.

When to Seek Grief Therapy in Los Angeles

Everyone’s experience with the grieving process is deeply personal and complex. Whether you are grieving the loss of a loved one, life transitions, or other losses, your grief journey is different. Some people navigate the healing process effectively without professional support, while others encounter challenges where professional support can be invaluable to the grieving process. Reaching out for the professional support of a grief counselor is not something to be ashamed of because everyone needs different support tools on their grief journey.

Listed below are some of the signs that grief therapy in Los Angeles can support your healing process:

  • Intense or prolonged sadness
  • Poor daily functioning
  • Physical symptoms
  • Withdrawing or feeling isolated from others
  • Intense and prolonged guilt or anger
  • Risky or unhealthy behaviors
    • Drugs and alcohol
  • Thoughts of suicide or self-harming behavior

At Profound Treatment, you and your loved ones can find a non-judgmental and supportive safe space with our in-person grief therapy and grief therapy support groups.

Why Should You Choose Grief and Loss Treatment in Los Angeles

Grief and loss are a natural part of life, but poor support tools can be detrimental to your well-being. Therefore, we offer an integrated approach to support treatment for whole-person healing. Some of the benefits of grief and loss treatment in Los Angeles include:

  • Identify and express your emotions
  • Healthy coping skills
  • Rebuilding daily routines
  • Reduce physical and emotional symptoms
  • Fosters confidence to refine who you are beyond your loss
  • Promote acceptance of your loss

This level of focused, impactful grief support is rare in residential treatment settings. Our grief and loss treatment reflects our commitment to holistic, client-centered care. By offering grief counseling, we enhance our clinical depth and promote meaningful healing outcomes for those we serve.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I only receive grief therapy in Los Angeles for the loss of a loved one?

No, we address a wide range of experiences like death, the end of a relationship, and other major life transitions.

How do I get started with grief and loss treatment in Los Angeles, California?

Starting your healing journey is just a phone call away at (833) 737-3422. You can reach out to our admissions counselors today for a brief initial assessment and learn about our grief therapy. We are here to support you in building the care plan that meets your needs for lasting recovery.

Everyone will experience grief and loss in their lives, but for some, the difficult emotions of grief can be too overwhelming. Overwhelming emotional pain increases your risk for unhealthy coping strategies like substance abuse. Whether your challenges stem from death, the end of a relationship, or other life transitions, our comprehensive grief therapy in Los Angeles can support your healing. At Profound Treatment, we offer non-judgmental support in a safe oasis to give you the integrated care you deserve. Call us at (833) 737-3422 to learn more about our grief and loss treatment.