Long Distance Grief Counseling

With Jon Terrell, M.A.

Are you seeking grief counseling? Would you like to find relief from emotional pain? Do you find yourself stuck in grief and needing a way out? Have you grieved long enough?

We offer confidential grief counseling over the telephone and via Skype. We encourage everyone who contacts us to attend one of our emotional healing retreats as the retreats can bring deep relief and healing in a very short time. But some people are unable to travel to one.

People can have the benefit of our grief counseling wherever they are located, through phone and Skype.

Counseling is not a substitute for a Grief, Loss And Difficult Emotions retreat. At the retreats, we go beyond words, into the feelings associated with loss, and are able, with the power of love in a group setting to transform stuck grief, loss and other difficult feelings. But when a retreat is not possible, counseling can help.

There is a talk component to the retreat, but also a deeply healing body component. Our feelings get stuck at the body level. Grief shows up, for example, in a heavy heart, a sluggish, a tired, exhausted body, an aching stomach, a bone weariness, etc.

Other feelings show up differently, in other places in the body-mind. When we are stuck in complicated grief, the feelings all interact, locking us into a sad, uncomfortable and even hopeless place. It is not surprising to find anger, anxiety and other deep emotions along with the grief.

While the power and depth of the group healing work cannot be duplicated through verbal counseling, counseling can be very helpful, especially when we combine the verbal talking with practices that include our whole self...body, feelings, perceptions, intuitions, thoughts, etc.

Who Can Be Helped By Grief Counseling?

People experiencing grief and loss due to:

• The death of a loved one
• The end of a relationship
• Divorce or separation
• Difficult life transitions...loss of job, moving to new area, etc.
• Loss of physical abilities, illness, aging or disability

You can also be helped if you are experiencing some of the following symptoms that may be a result of unresolved grief:

• Depression
• Sleeplessness
• Loss of appetite
• Feeling disconnected or isolated
• Lack of interest in the activities of daily life

What We Can Accomplish In Grief Counseling

Our grief counseling can help you understand what you are experiencing and begin or accelerate the process of moving through grief. 

We grieve because we have loved and now feel the loss of that love. Grief is a natural process of mourning loss, and, while it is uncomfortable, is only a problem when we are stuck in it too long. And "too long" is different for each person.

We get stuck in grief due to suppressing it or other feelings. Our society is not very good at dealing with grief. We are told to get over it or to distract ourselves from it. Many people never deal with their loses, they step over them, rise above them, suppress them. And that can lead to depression, anxiety and other feelings that are here to tell us something is wrong.

Friends or relatives, trying to be helpful, may encourage us to go shopping or do another activity to distract us from our grieving process. Sometimes distraction can be helpful, but oftentimes what we really need to do is to turn towards our grief, and really feel that feeling, really mourn the loss. 

In grief counseling we have a large toolbox to help you through grief and the related feelings. The first and primary tool is active, deep listening. All of us, and all parts of us, need to be heard, and yet it is often hard to find someone close to us who can deeply listen without an agenda other than listening.

Most people don't want to listen or don't know how to listen..they are much better at distracting...often because they haven't dealt with their own past grief. People give advice more often than listening. (At our retreats we have a big sign that says "Advice Free Zone.")

Before we can move on, our story needs to be heard, in all its complexity. And most loss is complicated...there are mixed feelings of anxiety, sadness, even anger within it. Verbalizing the story to someone who can deeply listen to your words and your meaning, can bring deep relief. Finally, all of our feelings are heard and we can start letting go.

Present grief can be further complicated because of unresolved grief from our past, especially our childhood. This suppressed grief, and other feelings, steals our life energy and weighs us down. When a loss occurs in the present, the old losses come up too, trying to also be worked through and resolved.

Stages or Phases of Grief

While everyone’s grief is different there are certain phases that are common.

The idea of stages of grief can imply that people go through a set progression of stages, and this isn’t so. I prefer to use the word phases instead of stages, to emphasis the non-linear nature of the tasks of mourning that people experience and accomplish.

You can read my article on Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and the “Stages Of Grief” here. 

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, who helped create the modern hospice movement, interviewed dying people to tried to illuminate the whole process of death and dying. Later in her life she wrote about the similarities between the experiences of those dying and those who are grieving a loss.

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance are the stages that she mentions in her classic book On Death and Dying. In counseling it is sometimes useful to identify these phases when they are part of your grief journey.

Personal Statement From Jon Terrell, M.A.

"I have been helping people with grief for over 30 years. Together we create a safe, confidential and comfortable environment to support each client's process.

Each person has within them the power to heal and awaken, but we sometimes get stuck. Through active, deep listening I can help clients enter their stuck places to reclaim their light, love and power. 

I can offer encouragement and reassurance to help clients to navigate through the uncomfortable places and find healing. 

I rely on linear, rational skills from years of counseling training and experience and also nonlinear, more intuitive skills based on years of teaching meditation and offering energy healing. I has an extensive toolbox of special techniques that can often be helpful such as imagery, body oriented practices, artwork and rituals.

I generally follow a positive psychology approach, which emphasis a client's strengths and abilities. It is wellness focused rather than disease focused approach, with a greater emphasis on healing activities over problem analyzing."

Jon Terrell                                 

To Find Out More About Long Distance Grief Counseling

You can reach Jon through the form below. He tries to call people back within 24 hours, except when he is leading a retreat or traveling. Please let him know the best time to reach you.

Jon charges $175 for a 1 hour counseling session via the phone, FaceTime, Meet or Skype. Payment is made through PayPal, Zelle or Venmo.

Go From Grief Counseling to Jon Terrell Bio

Go To Grief, Loss, And Difficult Emotions Retreat

Go To Grief Counseling New York

Go To Grief Main Page

Go To Home Page