When you lose someone you love, grief can feel overwhelming. Sleep becomes difficult, simple tasks drain your energy, and waves of sadness arrive without warning. You might avoid places that remind you of your loss or feel disconnected from people who expect you to “move on.” In High Point, North Carolina, professional grief counseling provides compassionate support to help you process loss, rebuild your life, and honor your loved one without carrying the weight alone.
Grief counseling offers specialized therapy for people navigating bereavement and significant life losses. Licensed therapists help you manage painful emotions, develop healthy coping strategies, and gradually reconnect with meaningful activities. Emberhaven provides grief counseling at their High Point office and through secure telehealth sessions across North Carolina.
Understanding Grief: What It Is and How It Affects You
Grief extends far beyond sadness. It impacts your body, mind, emotions, and relationships in profound ways. Physical symptoms include disrupted sleep, appetite changes, exhaustion, headaches, and weakened immunity. Emotionally, you might experience waves of sadness, anger, guilt, anxiety, numbness, or even relief. These feelings often intensify around anniversaries, holidays, or unexpected reminders of your loss.
Grief impairs concentration, memory, and decision-making. You might replay conversations, question past choices, or struggle to focus at work or home. Socially, grief can create distance between you and others who seem uncomfortable with your pain or don’t understand what you’re experiencing. Some people withdraw completely, while others seek connection but feel misunderstood.
Most people adapt to loss gradually without professional help. However, approximately 7 to 10% of individuals develop prolonged grief disorder, where intense symptoms persist beyond six to 12 months. These individuals benefit significantly from specialized grief therapy.
Signs You Need Grief Counseling in High Point
Anyone experiencing significant loss can benefit from grief counseling, but certain signs indicate professional support would be particularly helpful. Consider seeking therapy if you experience persistent difficulty accepting the loss months after it occurred, intense emotional pain that interferes with work or relationships, extended social withdrawal, inability to enjoy previously pleasurable activities, or persistent feelings that life holds no meaning.
Other warning signs include trouble maintaining important relationships, thoughts of joining the deceased, physical symptoms without medical explanation, reliance on alcohol or substances to cope, or inability to function in daily responsibilities. The sudden or traumatic nature of some deaths, including accidents, suicide, homicide, or unexpected medical crises, often requires specialized therapeutic intervention.
Grief counseling helps people who have lost a spouse, partner, child, parent, sibling, or close friend. Anticipatory grief, experienced while caring for someone with a terminal illness, also benefits from professional support.
Evidence-Based Approaches to Grief Therapy
Effective grief counseling draws from multiple therapeutic approaches, each supported by research. At Emberhaven’s grief counseling program, licensed therapists integrate evidence-based treatments tailored to your specific situation.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Grief
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps identify and modify thought patterns that intensify grief or prevent healing. Common unhelpful beliefs include “I should have done more,” “I can’t survive without them,” or “Moving forward means forgetting them.” CBT techniques examine these thoughts, reduce avoidance behaviors, and rebuild daily routines that support recovery. Research demonstrates CBT effectively reduces grief symptoms and accompanying depression and anxiety.
Complicated Grief Treatment
Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT) is a specialized therapy designed specifically for prolonged grief disorder. This approach combines CBT and interpersonal therapy with exposure techniques that help you gradually confront avoided reminders. CGT addresses seven core themes: understanding grief, managing painful emotions, planning for the future, strengthening relationships, telling your story of loss, learning to live with reminders, and maintaining healthy connection with memories.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches you to carry grief while reconnecting with personal values and meaningful activities. Rather than eliminating painful feelings, ACT develops psychological flexibility, allowing you to experience difficult emotions without being controlled by them. This approach proves particularly effective for people who feel stuck between honoring their loss and engaging with present life.
Meaning-Centered and Narrative Therapy
Meaning-centered therapy helps you integrate loss into your life story. These methods explore your relationship with the deceased, identify what the relationship meant, and find ways to maintain connection through memory and legacy. Many people find comfort in creating rituals of remembrance, continuing healthy bonds with the deceased, and deriving meaning from their experience of loss and love.
What to Expect During Grief Counseling Sessions
Your first grief counseling session begins with a comprehensive assessment. Your therapist asks about the loss you experienced, your relationship with the deceased, circumstances surrounding the death, current symptoms, and how grief affects daily life. This assessment helps develop an appropriate treatment plan tailored to your unique situation and goals.
Most people start with weekly sessions, though frequency depends on symptom severity. Early sessions focus on stabilization, ensuring adequate support, addressing safety concerns, and teaching basic coping skills for managing intense emotions. Your therapist may introduce grounding techniques, breathing exercises, or other tools to regulate your nervous system during difficult moments.
As therapy progresses, sessions become more exploratory. You might tell the story of your loss, process complicated emotions, address guilt or regret, confront avoidance patterns, and gradually face reminders you’ve been avoiding. This work proceeds at your pace, with your therapist respecting your readiness to approach painful material.
Between sessions, you’ll practice simple skills that support healing. These might include brief journaling, grounding techniques when emotions feel overwhelming, gradually resuming avoided activities, reaching out to supportive people, or planning ahead for difficult anniversaries and holidays. These practices help you build confidence managing grief outside the counseling office.
Length of Grief Counseling and Ongoing Support
The duration of grief counseling varies based on the nature of your loss, symptom severity, co-occurring mental health conditions, your support system, and personal goals. Research on structured grief treatments suggests that 16 sessions over several months produces significant improvement for many people. However, grief follows its own timeline, and therapy length should match individual needs.
Some people seek brief consultation for specific concerns, such as managing an upcoming anniversary or making important life decisions. Others need longer-term support for multiple losses, trauma associated with death, or complicated bereavement alongside depression or anxiety. Your therapist at Emberhaven regularly assesses progress and discusses whether continuing therapy makes sense or if you’re ready for less frequent support.
Many clients notice significant improvement within 8 to 12 sessions. As you stabilize, session frequency typically decreases from weekly to biweekly to monthly check-ins. Some people return briefly around anniversaries, holidays, or life transitions that reactivate grief, while others successfully manage ongoing grief waves without additional professional support.
Insurance Coverage and Costs for Grief Counseling in High Point
Most major health insurance plans cover outpatient mental health services including grief counseling. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requires insurance companies to provide mental health benefits comparable to medical and surgical benefits, meaning copayments and session limits should not be more restrictive for mental health care.
Emberhaven accepts most major insurance plans and North Carolina Medicaid managed care plans such as Healthy Blue, Carolina Complete Health, and AmeriHealth Caritas. Staff members verify insurance benefits before your first session so you understand coverage, copayments, and out-of-pocket costs. Contact Emberhaven to verify your specific insurance coverage.
North Carolina Medicaid covers mental health services including outpatient therapy when provided by licensed professionals. After North Carolina’s 2021 Medicaid transformation, most beneficiaries enrolled in managed care plans that coordinate behavioral health services. For questions about Medicaid coverage, contact North Carolina Medicaid or ask Emberhaven’s administrative staff for assistance.
Local Grief Support Resources in North Carolina
High Point residents can access various community resources that complement professional counseling. Peer support groups connect you with others who understand bereavement challenges. Many people find that sharing experiences with others who have faced similar losses reduces isolation and normalizes their grief responses.
GriefShare offers faith-based grief support groups at numerous North Carolina locations. These groups combine video seminars with small group discussion and personal workbooks. While GriefShare incorporates Christian perspectives, many people of various backgrounds find the structured format and peer connection valuable.
Hospice programs throughout North Carolina provide bereavement support to families and community members, often at no cost or on a sliding scale.
For those who have lost someone to suicide, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offers specialized resources addressing the unique aspects of suicide bereavement, including online support, local groups, and educational materials for survivors navigating complicated emotions and stigma.
Parents who have lost children can access specialized support through The Compassionate Friends, which maintains chapters throughout North Carolina.
North Carolina residents experiencing mental health crises, including intense grief triggering thoughts of self-harm, can access the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. This free, confidential service connects you with trained crisis counselors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
How to Choose Quality Grief Counseling in High Point
Selecting the right support during a time of loss is a crucial step toward healing. When looking for quality grief counseling in High Point, it is important to look beyond basic availability and focus on professional qualifications and therapeutic fit. Here is what to look for to ensure you receive high-quality care.
1. Verify North Carolina Licensure
First, ensure your therapist holds a valid license from a North Carolina state board. This guarantees they have met specific educational and ethical standards. Look for these common credentials:
- LCMHC: Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor
- LCSW: Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- LMFT: Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
- LPC: Licensed Professional Counselor
- Licensed Psychologist
2. Seek Specialized Grief Training
While general therapists receive basic education on loss, the best care often comes from specialists. Ask potential counselors about their specific training in evidence-based grief therapies. A quality provider should clearly explain their approach and help you understand what to expect during sessions.
3. Distinguishing “Normal” vs. “Complicated” Grief
Top-tier grief programs understand that grief is a natural human response, not a disease. They avoid pathologizing your pain. Instead, they distinguish between:
- Normal Grief: A painful but natural process that gradually shifts over time without intense intervention.
- Complicated Grief: A state where grief becomes “stuck,” requiring structured therapeutic support.
Your therapist should assess your unique situation rather than assuming a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
4. Comprehensive Mental Health Screening
Grief doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Effective counselors in High Point will screen for co-occurring conditions that can make bereavement harder to manage, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or substance use issues.
5. Prioritize the Therapeutic Connection
The relationship you have with your counselor is the strongest predictor of success. You should feel heard, safe, and respected. A quality therapist will never:
- Rush your process.
- Impose their beliefs on how you “should” grieve.
- Pressure you to “move on” prematurely.
Instead, they will gently encourage you to engage with life at your own pace, honoring your unique timeline.
Why Choose Emberhaven for Grief Support in High Point
Emberhaven Counseling provides comprehensive grief counseling services that honor your loss while supporting gradual healing. Licensed therapists bring extensive training in evidence-based grief therapies and understand that each person’s grief journey is unique. Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all approach, Emberhaven clinicians tailor treatment to your specific needs, cultural background, and personal goals.
The center offers all North Carolina residents counseling through telehealth appointments.
Emberhaven counselors recognize that grief doesn’t end after a set number of sessions. They offer flexible scheduling including weekly sessions during acute grief, less frequent meetings as you stabilize, and the option to return for support around anniversaries, holidays, or new losses. This responsive approach acknowledges that grief follows its own timeline and your needs will change throughout your healing journey.
How to Start Grief Counseling in High Point
You don’t need everything figured out before calling. Many people feel uncertain whether their grief warrants professional help or whether therapy can actually help them. These concerns are normal, and intake staff can help you determine whether counseling makes sense for your situation.
You can connect with the admissions team at Emberhaven at their High Point office by calling 743-867-7187.
Emberhaven is located at 1623 York Avenue, Suite 104 in High Point, North Carolina.
If You’re in Crisis
If you or someone you care about is experiencing a mental health crisis, including thoughts of self-harm or suicide related to grief, immediate help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which provides free, confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trained crisis counselors provide immediate support, help develop safety plans, and connect you with local resources.
For life-threatening emergencies requiring immediate medical attention, call 911.
Learn More About Grief and Bereavement
For additional information about grief, bereavement, and evidence-based treatments, these resources provide reliable, research-based information: