Grief and loss support

Since moving to the Central West, one thing I see a lot more is grief and loss but the local lack of support around this. Living rural means there are a lot more higher incidents of farm related accidents, as well as other areas from sports, dirt bike riding and even hunting. Some of these accidents can change people’s lives in an instant, from loss of a limb, age related decline as well as farm related accidental deaths, such as from machinery failure. Even the smaller farming communities out of Wagga Wagga, Orange and Parkes and Forbes can be limited in local supports.

There are also higher incidents of completed death by suicides, and when coupled with the intergenerational issues and stigma related to seeking support, many times grief will go unaddressed. Over time this can build up, as the research shows that the more we try to repress these feelings through drugs, alcohol. gambling or even gaming, they just come back and hit has harder than the time before. These might support things in the short term by numbing the feelings, but they tend to cause longer term, more problematic issues.

This is generally a good sign when to reach out for support. For most people grief will take a natural course of healing over time, and people tend to readjust and adapt to their lives and the changes they have undergone. However, for some, grief can prolong and become more difficult to manage, as well as often becoming extremely consuming in many aspects of life. This is potentially true when the incident had an element of trauma, which can compound and impact the natural grieving process. We also need to consider that we all grieve differently, and our own culture and upbringing will also be a part of this.

Some people grieve alone and others more collectively. The important thing is that after we have been through something that brings grief and loss, we take time to allow ourselves the space to grieve, and if things persist, get worse or seem stuck, it is usually a good time to reach out to others for support. This won’t always mean therapy, it could just be chatting to others who can support you, or even a GP can be a great place to try.

Counselling for grief also aims to provide a safe space where things can be openly talked about and processed, and at times, it helps to have someone removed from the situation as there is no bias. This can be especially true if aspects of the grief have some difficult points, such as if there was past domestic violence, trauma or difficulties within a relationship, as many also over look the impact of things such as carer fatigue.

Greif counselling can be both done face to face and online, so reaching out for a confidential discussion to see what setup would work for you is always advised. If working online, ensuring you have a safe space to do the session and if not, consider the library or even the car, to give some privacy.