Grief Counseling and Therapy
“With a kind and compassionate friend, I am on the path of goodness.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Individual & Group Therapy
Individual counseling is available to people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientations, cultures, and ethnicities. It aims to support you in moving past your loss while allowing you to grieve in a healthy way.
Grief counseling in a group, also called "group therapy," can help you heal quickly and find comfort in talking with others who are going through the same thing. Usually, these groups are closed and limited to a certain number of group members who stay in the group all the way to the end. They can take many different forms and focus on different types of losses, like:
LGBTQ+
Spousal loss
Loss of child
Child loss of parents due to death, divorce or incarceration
Loss from immigration
Men’s grief
Traumatic loss
With over 30 years’ experience of walking with people in grief, I specialize in working with children, but also work with adults of all ages.
As a counselor, pastor, child therapist, educational counselor, and complicated grief therapist, I bring to my clients expertise in:
- Perinatal loss
- Child loss of any age
- Suicide loss
- Accidental /sudden death
- Divorce
- Relationship loss
- Death of one for whom was provided long term care
- COVID-19
- Loss of health
- Loss of job
- Loss in the LGBTQ community
- Immigration loss in children
- Loss of meaning and purpose
- Loss for persons who are other-abled.
I integrate several counseling modalities:
- Psychodynamic Counseling
- Complicated Grief Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Existential Therapy
- Client-centered Counseling
- Pastoral Counseling
- Educational Guidance
A Ferris wheel turns the same way over and over and never seems to get anywhere.
Grief can make you feel stuck.
Grief can be an emotional roller coaster. There is the uncertainty of what will come next, just around the corner.
Grief can make you feel exhausted, confused, and anxious.
In a tunnel, you may stumble in the dark, not always seeing the light ahead.
Grief can make you uncertain. You may wonder if perhaps you are going crazy.
At times, the ocean will be calm. Yet, as you swim, you may wonder what might be lurking just below the surface.
The waves may come fast and hard again and again, and you will be overwhelmed.
Grief can be uncertain, frightening, and overwhelming.
Whatever it may be, I am ready to enter your world of grief and join you on your journey.
Areas of Expertise
Mourning Rites
As an ordained minister, I help create and participate in meaningful funerals and burials for families of all religions, spiritual mindfulness, and no religious leanings.
Teaching
I have taught all ages, from pre-school to university students, on various topics. I have offered courses and classes to physicians and nurses, social workers, religious leaders, teachers, and community workers on the subjects of grief, complicated grief, and appropriate interventions.
Public Speaking
I am a skilled and sought-after public speaker. I am available to speak to groups of people about any of the above grieving situations. Most recently, I have made presentations to a group of 100 nurses about the subject of prolonged and unresolved grief during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am regularly the keynote speaker at a program called “Still Missed,” which is a day of reconciling the loss of a child with families. I address topics relating to caregiver stress, aging, hospice, bereavement, trauma/suicide, addiction and its complications to grief, childhood grief and spirituality, and the role of religion in dying and bereavement.
Grief Counseling
Individual counseling for persons of all ages, race, religion, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity or culture.
One or a few of these may be appropriate for you. Suggested in consultation. These are offered at different times of the year, depending on size of group. There will be a nominal fee charged for attendance.
- LGBTQ+
- Spousal loss
- Loss of child
- Child loss of parents due to death, divorce or incarceration
- Loss from immigration
- Men’s grief
- Traumatic loss
Sessions and Consultation
I mostly serve Beaufort and Jasper Counties in South Carolina, but I can also do tele-health sessions for people who live in other places.
Free 15-minute initial consultation.
Sessions are 50-minutes, tailored to each person’s needs. These sessions may be in person or online.
Payment can be made in the form of check, cash, or VENMO. Third-party providers are not accepted. A sliding scale payment arrangement is available under consultation.
The 7 Best Online Grief Support Groups and Chats/Blogs
Overall: Grieving.com.
Live Chat: Grief in Common.
For Young People: Hope Again.
Social Media Group: Grief Anonymous.
Specific Grief: Online Grief Support.
Email Support: GriefNet.
Monitored Discussion Group: Grief Healing.
SLAP’D: On-line grief resources and blog for adolescent loss of parents.
In Person Support Groups
Loss of a Child
https://www.compassionatefriends.org
Suicide Loss
https://save.org/what-we-do/grief-support/
LGBTQ+ Loss
https://afsp.org/story/providing-care-and-support-for-the-lgbtq-community-following-a-suicide-death
https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/life/why-queer-people-need-to-talk-about-disenfranchised-grief/
General Grief
https://hospicefoundation.org/Grief-(1)/Support-Groups
Christ Lutheran Church Grief Support Group / Hilton Head Island
https://clchhi.org
Healgrief.org
Actively Moving Forward (AMF) for Young Adults
Can You Tell Me More About Your Practice?
Meridian Counseling for Grief and Loss is an LLC registered in South Carolina. I am a private grief counselor serving clients in the Beaufort County, South Carolina, area. I welcome people from across the United States via online sessions. I specialize in working with children, but I also work with adults of all ages and have over 30 years of experience walking with people in grief.
Meridian Counseling for Grief and Loss LLC teaches students from pre-school to college about many different things. Individual and group grief counseling is available for persons of all ages, races, genders, sexual preferences, ethnicities, and cultures. I am available to speak to groups of people about any of the above grieving situations. I also do mourning rites. I help families of all faiths and those with no religious affiliation plan and take part in meaningful funerals.
