Addressed in Question 23. (Copy and Paste from my answer for Question 23) I signed up for Grief Recovery as a last resort. I found myself “stuck” while dealing with a horrific breakup. My emotional angst had me thinking I was depressed and very stuck. With my family and friends so over my crying, my sadness, and my nonstop talking about it, I knew I needed to find a safe space to work through what I was feeling where I wouldn’t have to ruminate on the situation for months and months with a therapist about it. A good friend of mine suggested I reach out to a former colleague of ours, Kimberly Blair. My friend told me Kimberely does Grief Recovery and perhaps she could help me. Not sure what Grief Recovery was about, but aware that I desperately needed a major change, I reached out to Kimberly and decided to give Grief Recovery a try. Going into the program I had some reservations, like how comfortable would I be opening up to a former colleague? And was my breakup really grief? I thought grief was only allowed in situations of death, not a breakup. After completing the program, I can say hands-down, enrolling in Grief Recovery with Kimberely was one of the best things I could have done for myself. Kimberly created a very safe and sacred space that allowed me to dig into unbeknownst to me at the time, “unresolved grief.” The fear I had of telling my story to a former coworker was immediately dispelled within minutes of our first session; she was such a professional in every aspect of the Grief Recovery work. She taught me that there are 40 different kinds of grief, and a break-up/ failed relationship is definitely a type of grief. (Learning that there are 40 different types of grief was truly eye-opening.) She also taught me the feelings everyone wanted me to suppress and ignore, were okay to feel and talk through, and ignoring them wasn’t helpful. She showed me the comments, “you’re crazy… you’re depressed” (that I got from the circle of family and friends) weren’t true; I was just dealing with a lot of unresolved grief. She helped me to feel validated, liberated, and empowered in my emotions. Her amazing coaching and teaching allowed me to open up and tell her things I’d never told anyone. She showed me how those previous losses were grief and the great pain they brought me was unresolved grief, a lot of which has been compounded over the years. A big part of what made my time with Kimberly so impactful and beneficial was her sharing her Grief Recovery journey. Learning of her journey aided in my understanding of the teachings of the program. Additionally, learning of her journey showed me how the program greatly impacted her life for the better. There’s not enough character space in this survey for me to convey my gratitude to Kimberly for teaching me how to get unstuck through Grief Recovery. Her expertise in Grief Recovery has put me in a better space mentally, emotionally, and physically. The work she did with me has truly impacted my life for the better; both in the area of grief that led me to the program (my breakup) and for future griefs I will encounter, and how to better be there for those in my circle who may be experiencing grief. I will absolutely recommend Kimberly to anyone that I know who will go through one of the 40 different types of grief.
