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Karin Grobler
When life hurts |
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Let's Take Suffering Seriously
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Suffering is universal, but few people realise how important
self-care is in times struggle. A crucial aspect of self-care is finding someone capable of supporting you when life hurts. Life can hurt us in many ways and it is important that we are aware that various types of situations in fact bring grief and distress. For instance, care and guidance may be essential after experiencing the death of a loved one, the break-down of a relationship or friendship, a divorce, the loss of a job, the death of a beloved pet, the decline of one's health, retirement or any major shock or change in one's life or routine. Unfortunately, the reality of our world is that we adults are not the only ones faced with the struggle of dealing with stress and grief. Often, despite our best efforts to shield our children from suffering, they are affected by loss or change just as intensely, or even more so than we are. It is absolutely vital that their suffering is taken seriously and not just dismissed as "bad behaviour" or a "difficult phase". How can I help? As a trained grief counsellor with over ten years of experience, I have come to learn and understand the complexities of different forms of grief. I know what is helpful and what is not when trying to process you and your child's grief or trauma. Grief can be devastating and severely impair your ability to function when it is insufficiently processed and acknowledged. This is especially true of a young, developing mind. I hope to offer some insight and help you and your child navigate the stages of personal grief in a gentle, yet proactive way. My priority is ensuring that you have the safety and freedom to truly experience and recognise your emotional and physical responses to stress so that you can ultimately understand your own personality and that of your child better, in order to care for yourself and your loved ones in a kind and healing manner. My approach Through one-on-one therapy, I can help you tackle your personal suffering and grief. In cases involving children, I believe in using play therapy as well as parent coaching to equip you to respond to your child's emotions in a positive and beneficial way, in order to help you and your child heal and learn techniques to cope with future issues. My own greatest loss (the collapse of my marriage of 23 years) coincided with a raging fire starting from the mountains surrounding Fish Hoek (my home town) all the way to Hout Bay. For the past three years I have been taking photographs of the recovery of the mountain and the fynbos; and I have noticed some powerful similarities between this process and my personal experience with loss and grief. This transformation scene has become a powerful metaphor for my journey. I want to encourage you to take the first step in your self-care; email me at grobler.karin@gmail.com or call me on 076 381 3885 I specialise in:
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