Religious and spiritual leaders have pointed out for centuries that we should look at loss as an opportunity for personal spiritual development. Yet in modern life, moving through intense emotional pain has become such a misunderstood process that most of us have very little idea of how to respond to loss.

What do we mean by recovery? Recovery means feeling better. Recovery means claiming your circumstances instead of your circumstances claiming you and your happiness. Recovery is finding new meaning for living, without the fear of being hurt again. Recovery is being able to enjoy fond memories without having them precipitate painful feelings of regret or remorse. Recovery is acknowledging that it is perfectly all right to feel sad from time to time and to talk about those feelings no matter how those around you react. Recovery is being able to forgive others when they say or do things that you know are based on their lack of knowledge about grief. Recovery is one day realizing that your ability to talk about the loss you've experienced is indeed normal and healthy.

Grief is the normal and natural reaction to loss of any kind. Therefore, the feelings you are having are also normal and natural for you. The problem is that we have all been socialized to believe that these feelings are abnormal and unnatural.

While grief is normal and natural and clearly the most powerful of all emotions, it is also the most neglected and misunderstood experience, often by both the grievers and those around them.

Grief is the conflicting feelings caused by the end of or change in a familiar pattern of behavior.

While death and divorce are obviously loss experiences, many other loss experiences have been identified that can produce grief. Among them are: Death of a pet, Moving, Starting school, Death of a former spouse, Marriage, Graduation, End of addictions, Major health changes, Retirement, Financial changes + or - , Holidays, Legal problems, Empty nest.

After working with grievers for over twenty years, we have identified several other losses, including loss of trust, loss of safety, and loss of control of one's body (physical or sexual abuse).

Society still doesn't recognize these losses as grief issues.

If you would like to find out more about Grief Recovery and People's Reaction to Loss and What to do about it!! Visit us at http://www.grief-recovery.com/.