Page 6 - 2016 Spring-Summer Issue

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Support Groups Assisting Your
Healing Process
by Elizabeth Horwin
It was November 13, 1988 when I experienced the
most horrific, unthinkable and unimaginable event
that changed my life forever. My son Michael, at
age 16, died violently in an automobile accident.
I’m sharing this with you because being a bereaved
parent for 27 years and working as a licensed
counselor, I have been in a position to assist
individuals and families with their healing process. include: shock and denial, bargaining, withdrawal,
There are many ways to heal from our losses and
this article is about what I know to be one of the
most positive ways we can help ourselves live and
move through our healing process.
How do we heal from losses? After the shock and
denial of what just happened, there are very clear
ways that we have learned through the work and
research of leaders in the field, such as Elizabeth
Kubler Ross, on how to understand the process
of grieving and healing. Once we understand
6 |We Need Not Walk Alone
that healing is a process, we begin to understand
that this journey of loss and healing is part of the
human experience on planet Earth. It is impossible
to live our life without loss, pain and suffering. I
wish it could be otherwise, but it just is not.
If we are to heal from our losses, two distinct
processes must occur. The first is the mourning
process, grieving through the stages of loss which
depression, guilt, anger and finally acceptance.
The mourning process is a feeling process. A
willingness to feel and live through these emotions
is how we begin. The second process is action.
How and what do we do to survive and go on with
our life? Though these are two distinct processes
(feeling and action) depending on the individual
and the significance of the loss, they can dovetail
and occur simultaneously. The intensity of the