Dr. Lyn Prashant is a Fellow in Thanatology and a pioneer in the field of Somatic Thanatology. Founder and training director of this work, Lyn authored the Degriefing manual, Transforming Somatic Grief. She has been published and interviewed on radio, TV, in magazines, on YouTube, and on her website (www.degriefing.com). She studied and was mentored by Elizabeh Kubler-Ross.
WHAT IS GRIEF?
Grief is the human’s response to loss
and it is the most available, untapped emotional resource
for personal transformation.
– Lyn Prashant
The basic physiological and psychological concomitants of grief
are universal throughout human kind.
However, the events that warrant grief,
the way people respond to those events
and the process of recovering from grief
are very much determined by the culture —
by the values and practices of a society.
Thus, grief is pictured as a normal emotion,
with significant differences to be expected
from one culture to another
in the ways an emotion is represented
in thought and behavior.
– “SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST MODEL OF GRIEF”
Averill and Nunley in
Handbook of Bereavement,
Cambridge University Press, 1993
Grief deepens you.
It allows you to explore the perimeters of your soul.
Grief is the only gateway to certain levels of consciousness,
and it is a hard taskmaster.
Through grief,
you can explore every aspect of your dark side –
anger, pain, abandonment, terror, loneliness;
and these are aspects of the sacred wound
that in our daily lives
we usually try to ignore.
Grief forces you to look
at those parts of yourself
that are not yet healed.
If you look at grief as a teaching,
you will grow.
The pain of grief is not the only teacher in this life,
but if looked at properly,
with awareness and an open heart,
it is one of the greatest teachers of all.
The seeds of wisdom and enlightenment
are planted within the wounds of grief.
What is lost can only come back to us again
in higher ways.
– The Power Deck by Lynn Andrews
What is Degriefing®: Integrative Grief Therapy?
Grief is the most available emotional resource for personal transformation.
This is the main premise of Degriefing or I.G.T. Grief is the body’s response to loss — any loss. Grief creates a state of physical and mental disharmony. The body and the mind are inextricably linked.
Fresh grief can stimulate the feelings of previous unresolved grief. Loss is a common experience that every person encounters during his or her lifetime. A grieving person can undergo both significant and subtle changes impacting their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual states. It is necessary to understand the effect that grief has on existing conditions.
Symptoms of distress can be part of simple or complex, fresh or unresolved grief. A variety of somatic complaints can be experienced: fatigue, insomnia, pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, chest pressure, palpitations, stomach pains, headaches, backaches, panic attacks, increased anxiety or depression amongst others.
Therefore, healthcare approaches that attempt to alleviate or transform the effects of the grief must include both physical and mental treatment methods. Combining existing conventional treatments with integrative therapies, particularly somatic treatments along with the appropriate verbal support, will create a new paradigm in normalizing the effect that grief has on the entire system: body, mind, spirit, especially when there is physical pain present.
Grief-related problems are often unrecognized and remain unaddressed by today’s quick-fix health care system. The well-trained counselor can provide supportive verbal communication techniques, nurturing emotional attention, make recommendations and provide referrals for appropriate integrative therapies, and embody the personal presence needed to assist clients in coping with grief in a healthy self-supporting way.
Degriefing® Premises
Grief is the most available, untapped, emotional resource for personal transformation.
Degriefing promotes integration … the wisdom of the body with intelligence of the mind.
Grief is not as complicated as we make it, and not as simple as we would like it.
Grief is cumulative: fresh loss re-stimulates the grief of unresolved losses.
Degriefing practices ‘intention’ rather than ‘trying to accomplish’.
We don’t get over our losses: we change relationship to them.
We all have feelings; we experience them as emotions.
We can choose to express or repress our emotions.
Tears lubricate the muscles that hold grief so tightly.
Degriefing focuses on allowing rather than forcing.
Grief is the body-minds’ response to loss … any loss.
Emotion is the affective aspect of consciousness.
The mind has a body and the body has a mind.
Above all, grieving people need to be heard.
In times of grief, our mind is not our friend.
The body is the barometer of our truth.
Grief is as universal as the smile.
Degriefing encourages observation rather than worry.
Grief, like traffic, is part of the human condition.
Move with Grief
Treating the physical body is what differentiates Degriefing®: Integrative Grief Therapy (IGT) from other therapies that rely solely on talk. The use of skillfully combined somatic (physical) treatments to address, transform and release embodied grief is both a unique factor and Integral part of the success of this holistic therapeutic approach.
Engaging the body to ‘Move Through Grief’ is a conscious choice. When we deal with grief, our mind is not our friend. The body’s our barometer of truth. Physical movement promotes resilience, hormonal balance, emotional regulation. We are shuttled into the peaceful side of our Autonomic nervous system, the Parasympathetic.
Degriefing promotes integration: the wisdom of the body with intelligence of the mind. The mind has a body/the body has a mind. Grief is the body/minds’ response to loss.
The resulting physical symptomology is complex, multifaceted and very case specific. Unresolved grief, unattended sorrow, can live, hide or be held in the body for decades. By accessing embodied grief as fuel to power overt external movement we can express and release held emotions.
There are infinite combinations of modalities addressing grief held by the body. Honoring individual needs by listening to the somatic whispers and shouts, analyzing options, and combining forces of various integrative therapeutic systems represents authentic self-care.
Let’s ‘Move Through Grief’ in 2023 with curiosity, exploring transformative options like: Improv, Tai Chi, Yoga, qigong, performance art, hiking, biking, skipping, jogging, walking, aerobics, swimming, skiing, dancing, crawling, team sports, camping, etc. And enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
Degriefing Applied: Somatic Quick Tips
For emotional and physical regulation:
engage in a personal A.M. ritual daily
run hands under cold water
nostril breathe at all times
write your feelings
talk to a grief professional
co-counsel
inhale essential oils
gong Tibetan bowls
smile for no reason, dance, dance, dance
gargle, hum, sing your favorite song out loud
sit and observe your breath for 5 minutes: attention on belly
engage in a personal P.M. ritual daily
Grief Counseling
Grief counseling is available for individuals, couples, families, businesses and communities.
Sessions can be scheduled to take place at Lyn’s San Francisco or Marin county office, her office in San Miguel de Allende Mexico, at the client’s home, or in a hospice or hospital (there is an additional travel fee for on-site visits).
Sessions are scheduled for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or more, depending on the nature of the loss and personal need. Single sessions will prove quite beneficial, and often a continuing course of treatment is recommended. It is common for an individual to schedule weekly sessions for a period of two to three months.
The course of treatment begins with a consultation and evaluation session. The counselor, the client and any appropriate medical staff determine the treatment regime. The first treatments typically aim to provide immediate emotional relief and physical comfort. Progress is evaluated regularly. As healing occurs, fewer visits are required.
Phone and video conferencing consultations are also available. Please contact Lyn to schedule an appointment today. Note: Lyn offers a FREE NO-OBLIGATION grief chat. Lyn works in both English and Spanish
Educational Trainings
Lyn Prashant, PhD, FT, IGT, CMT, is a certified grief counselor who teaches and lectures about grief, the Degriefing Process and other grief-related topics. She is available to give educational presentations to your health care staff and invited guests. She is a respected consultant in the thanatology field. She provided continuing education units for Psychologists, MFCC’s, LCSW’s, and Nurses in the US. She is known to be an engaging and interesting speaker to English and Spanish speaking audiences. She is available to travel for speaking engagements.
Personal Private Confidential Grief Relief Retreats
Integrative Grief Therapy: Degriefing for the Bereaved
The private retreat is specifically tailored to accommodate each individual’s needs. Together through skillful communication we clarify the prominent issues to be addressed, length of retreat desired and modalities to incorporate. The cost is then determined.
This experiential retreat is for grieving individuals, couples and families interested in exploring their relationship to loss in their life.
In a personal retreat, due to the extended focus and hours, there is a continuation of exploration that deepens with each session. This affords the opportunity to explore issues and circumstances that have long since been held, carried by the body and identified by the mind as troublesome.
While each individual grieves in an entirely personal and unique way, there are aspects of bereavement that are universal. Supportive Degriefing integrative modalities are chosen by the client with supportive guidance of the therapist.
Since fresh loss and grief re-stimulates past events and the emotional components that surround the event; unresolved embodied grief lies in wait ready to create havoc. The grief attached to these events produce emotional pain and the physical discomfort that have been draining the individual’s life force and sense of well being, often resulting in exhaustion and depression.
The client is supported to identify and express the underlying themes of loss and the subsequent stories and physical sensations that surround that event.
By recognizing the re-stimulated issues, we can then assess available modalities for transformation. We use the grief to fuel the selected integrative activities.
The Degriefing approach offers the client specific choices as to how to finally embrace these long-held, compounded circumstances in their life that have regularly caused upheaval.
According to the premise that “we don’t get over our losses; we change relationship to them,” we consciously and gently realign ourselves for the highest good.
No previous therapeutic experience is necessary.
A completed intake form and a phone interview is required for all Grief Relief Retreats.
Explore the possibility of a private retreat.
Please pass this newsletter on to others.
ACCEPTS VIRTUAL CLIENTS
degriefing.com
[email protected]
415.457.2272 USA
415.972.9591 call/text
+52 415 167 4774 Mexico call
San Francisco, California
San Miguel Allende, Mexico
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