Grief counselor recommendations?

April 5, 2022 2:57 PM

Looking for recommendations for a grief counselor, if anyone has them. I’m asking for a friend, but they are in the Atlanta area. Online is also fine.
posted by needlegrrl to Human Relations (2 answers total)

Best answer: I have volunteered in some grief groups in the past couple of years, and generally the term "grief counseling" in the US is largely code for a support group, which may or may not be led by an actual licensed individual.

There will sometimes be therapists/social workers employed in a hospice or care facility whose budget and programming is primarily oriented to death and dying, but it's often specifically for users of their services. There are multiple grief or bereavement credentialing associations that do have member directories, but you'll notice in their qualifications that they do credential health care professionals and ministers - often for the purposes of leading groups. It's indicative of some additional coursework but not really any internship or supervision programs.

That said, to some extent any therapist should have the tools for the work of bereavement processing, dealing with post-loss stress, and supporting the normal aftermath of a close loss.

HOWEVER if you are using the trauma tag because there is associated trauma - caretaker trauma, just plain medical trauma, complicated grief with historical trauma - I highly advocate finding a trauma specialist (look for someone certified in EMDR even if you're not specifically looking for EMDR treatment at this time) or someone who makes a point of defining their methodology as trauma-informed, because wow have I seen some therapists (and grief counselors, and group leaders) way out of their depth and doing real additional damage to people because they don't know how to recognize and work with serious trauma. I would make that the primary concern in finding a therapist; a good trauma therapist has worked in loss and bereavement plenty and also has the right tools for the trauma.

It's so hard to find anybody taking new patients right now, it may be a matter of working Yelp, Psychology Today, and any listings associated with nearby universities until you find a short list of possible candidates, and contact each of them.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:48 PM on April 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

I helped find one by contacting a couple of local hospital social work and palliative care programs. They each sent a list of groups and some names of private practice therapists who provide one on one grief counseling. The groups they suggested were primarily for patients/family of that institution,but some provided online and community groups that are available to all. The counselors suggested were in private practice and we ended up finding a good match who had experience with the specific illness journey and loss.
posted by fies at 6:33 PM on April 5, 2022