Loss And Grief, PTSD

  • The theme of loss is common for all humankind, because we have all experienced losses at some point.

    There can be loss by death or loss by moving away; there can be loss by choice or by accident (and I’ve seen people argue which one is worse till they were blue in their faces).

    When we are confronted with loss, we react in very different ways, and the majority of those reactions are normal and healthy.

    Being completely overwhelmed by grief or denying feelings, functioning on a high level and taking care of everybody else or not functioning at all; all of those reactions are within normal range.

    What is not particularly healthy is when we experience only one reaction and it becomes our primary mode of functioning. If, after the loss of a loved one, we are only concerned with how the rest of the family and friends feel, it means that we do now allow ourselves access to our own feelings.

     
  • If, on the contrary, a year and a half after his or her death, we can only talk about this person, it means that, in a way, we are trying to join that person, we are trying to die instead of living a life and moving on. If after a car accident, in a year we still cannot get behind the wheel, it means we need help.

    Working with you on this issue, I will help you integrate experiences of loss or trauma into your life. The goal here is to accept what happened as a part of the tapestry of your existence, but not the main pattern.

    Just like with any chronic illness or loss of social status – all of those events happened to you, but they do not define who you are, and they do not map out your future.

English

Important Insurance Information

We only take insurance as out of network providers. The reason for this is that we don’t want the insurance to dictate us what to do in therapy, how much, and how frequently. We, as professionals, feel very strongly that this decision should be between the patient and the doctor or the therapist, without the third party intervening into this process. We have staff members who will work with you around your budget to make it affordable for you and/or for your children to undergo necessary psychological treatment. Because of their licensure requirements, some of our highly qualified junior clinicians currently work under supervision of the clinical director. The perks of working with one of our junior clinicians, besides the lower cost for services, also include that our junior clinicians get hour to hour supervision from the director of the center who is a licensed PhD psychologist with extensive experience in the mental health field. Hour to hour supervision means that, in addition to a session with this particular clinician, two people will put their heads together while puzzling over your case and drafting out ways to approach all of the pertinent issues. If there is a piece of the puzzle that will be better solved by a social worker, because, say, your anxiety stems not only from psychological problems but also from a dire housing situation, the clinician will get “on a flight” consultation from one of our social workers and will provide you with available resources. So let me use the sales people cliché here: it is two for the low price of one! Jokes aside, this model of work ensures that our center provides the best possible care for you and for your loved ones in the most cost-effective manner.