Grief Therapy in Philadelphia, Mechanicsville, Santa Fe, and Ocean City - Personal honor rituals - Letting Go On Your Own Terms: losing someone you love is heartbreaking. Grieving is a challenge, grieving well is even harder. To grieve ‘well’ is to grieve fully and in a way that promotes the healing process. It is to grieve constructively and not destructively. It is to fully confront your loss and sorrow. It is to let go of the one who has moved on and accept that they are no longer with you in the physical world. Grieving well is truly grieving.
In order to facilitate the cycle and to immerse oneself in the experience of grief, many people choose to partake in personal honor rituals. They may not realize them as such, but the little acts one does to honor the life of the dead and their memory through your own volition are intimate rituals, personally created to acknowledge one’s grief. They are healthy, constructive ways of letting go on your own terms.
Funerals, burials, wakes, memorials, and ceremonies are all rituals meant to honor the deceased and allow the loved ones a final opportunity to say goodbye. However, today these occasions are often thronged with visitors and can feel anything but personal. Occurring soon after the death, they thrust those who are still in shock into a rapid, decisive process that carries out in front of others. Many times, the widowed are expected to ‘host’ family and friends in their home after the ceremonies. It is a time of coming together, of congregating, but is rarely personal or private anymore. Many who have experienced this, look back on the funeral as confusing and exhausting instead of healing.
Whether you lost someone recently or years ago, it is never too late to design your own, personal honor ritual. It is a chance to say goodbye and an opportunity for letting go on your own terms. More than that, it is a time to honor someone’s life and memory as you would truly want to and have a last moment with them ‘alone’. It can bring closure, healing, and peace to a time fraught with emotion.
There are many ways to conduct such a ritual, but the idea is to make it your own so that you indeed are letting go on your terms. How would you like to say goodbye to your loved one? How do you want to remember them? Honor them? Maybe with a song or a prayer? Maybe a letter or a poem? Maybe just a quiet moment together in your mind, at the burial site, or even in a place they frequented while alive like a home or favorite restaurant? You might choose to include someone else close to you and the deceased or not. It’s entirely up to you.
Some may choose to visit the grave and burn a candle while meditating on all the joy that the departed brought them in their life. Others might prefer to visualize the loved one being received by those who have already passed over, and waving a final goodbye. You might write a letter to them, burn it, and sprinkle the ashes in a special place. You may choose a combination of things. It might seem hard, but be creative. Combine effects that have meaning both for you and the departed. Write them out as steps if you need to. Share them with others if it makes you feel better. Find a way to memorialize this moment for yourself. It is a beautiful way to grieve well.
You can self schedule an in-person or virtual therapy session at the Center for Growth by calling (215) 922- LOVE (5683) x 100.
Our Guarantee: If after your first session you are not sold that you are working with the right therapist, do not hesitate to call our intake line at 215 922 5683 x 100 or Alex at (267) 324-9564 and ask to be rescheduled with another therapist. The choice of how you want to proceed is yours. Our only goal is to support you in becoming the best you possible.
For your convenience, we have brick and mortar offices and work with clients virtually in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Physical Therapy Office Locations:
Ocean City Therapy Office 360 West Ave, Floor 1, Ocean City, NJ 08226
Mechanicsville Therapy Office 9044 Mann Drive, Mechanicsville Virginia, 23116
Society Hill Therapy Office 233 S. 6th Street, C-33, Philadelphia PA 19106
Art Museum / Fairmount Therapy Office 2401 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 1a2, Philadelphia PA 19130
Providence Therapy Office 173 Waterman St. Providence, RI 02906
Fayetteville Therapy Office 101 Devant Street #606, Fayetteville GA 30214
Santa Fe Therapy Office, 2204 B Brothers Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505
Telemedicine Therapy Locations: We have therapists who are licensed to work in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia and Pennsylvania
Therapy Services Offered in Fayetteville, Ocean City, Mechanicsville, Philadelphia, Providence, Santa Fe:
Individual Counseling and therapy
Couples Counseling and marriage counseling
Teen Therapy and Adolescent Therapy and tweens and child counseling
Family Therapy and multi-generational counseling
Art Therapy and Counseling no art skills needed
ADHD Therapy and ADD, Dyslexia, Autism, Tourettes counseling
Anxiety, Panic, OCD Therapy and worry and fear support
Breaking the cycle of Codependency and being your own person
Overcoming Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain .
Depression Therapy and sadness, gloom, and upset support
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Therapy is a particular style of therapy designed for people with problems affecting their nervous system, how the brain and body send and receive signals.
Grief Therapy and loss, End of A Relationship, rejections, pregnancy and loss and therapy
Mindfulness Based Therapy and spirituality based therapy
Narcissistic Abuse Recovery child of, parent of, spouse of, sibling of a narcissist.
Sex Therapy and sexual function & dysfunction, sex addiction, sexual orientation and gender identity support
Trauma Therapy both emotional and sexual abuse, complex trauma, PTSD counseling
Divorce support
Affairs, Infidelity, Unfaithful, Cheating counseling
Parenting therapy
Personality disorder treatments Narcissist, Borderline, Histrionic
Setting Boundaries and identifying ones own Core Beliefs
Just name some of the Mental Health issues that we work with. Our goal is to help you Change and Achieve Your Dreams
