As part of our aftercare support, we have commissioned some articles from our resident therapist, Diane Youdale.
Belief is an acceptance that something exists with or without proof.
Man has lived with Belief for as long as time itself. Vital for personal and social shaping, no matter where we live in the world.
It can be divisive and dark as well as unifying and bonding.
Belief is important as it forms the ‘how’ we go about our values in life.
At a time of loss belief is thrown into question at it’s most raw. It’s also part of the Grief Cycle – (Disbelief, Anger, Bargaining/Blame, Depression and Acceptance) which was touched
on in our article on Grief.
Belief can be a crucial link to what may make the non-touchable a tangible whole.
To fill or make sense of the painful hole that loss can bring.
It’s also a time to question what we may have already been holding as belief in life itself.
Huge!
A time to take comfort maybe and reshape belief. In counselling you have someone alongside you, a neutral space to explore what is going on for you and you alone.
It can be a good time to talk with others about their beliefs too.
Sometimes you may even hear things that can be helpful. Hope can waiver as you question what you’ve held in belief about life itself to possibly arrive at a new place.
This is a time to be kind to yourself. Allow the space you need inside to tell your inner critic to back down to ease any internal conflict from firmly held prior beliefs. Acknowledge this and pay thanks for the hard ‘work’ your inner critic may have already done to keep you at times safe. Ultimately, an inner critic can prove to be corrosive and weaken your self-confidence so rationalising is important and a skill some are better at than others.
With loss it is easy to feel irrational and bewildered. Space and selfcare, becomes vital.
Take time to help the part of your mind that will be overwhelmed.
Talk through any worries that my stand in the way of moving forward in your life with a skilled and experienced grief therapist where appropriate.
You never know, with some healing time under your belt, you may arrive at a different chapter where awareness of your potential can be refreshed and even renewed, from an internal belief system working differently.
Maybe even better, which is a true legacy that those we lose would want for us.
To read more from this series, please click here or contact one of the bereavement support groups here.
For further support, you could book an initial online assessment with our therapist for £65 by emailing [email protected]
Diane is a certified and experienced Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Coach. She is a lecturer, Trainer and Tutor in Counselling Psychotherapy. She has decades of experience in all aspects of therapy and is also a founder of The Core Philosophy complete wellbeing programme.