East Texas counselors speak about National Grief Awareness Day

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Wednesday is National Grief Awareness Day. This day highlights the topic, provides resources for those who may need them and allows those who are grieving to feel less alone.

National Grief Awareness Day was created in 2014.

Stephen Lantis a licensed professional counselor at The Burke Center in Lufkin said this day brings awareness of what grief is and the impact it could have on a person.

“It may take the form of sadness, it, it might take the form of anger, or depression or anxiety, lots of different symptoms come along with the grief experience,” Lantis said.

Hannah Weaver, a licensed professional councilor at Alethia Counseling in Tyler said there are many different forms of grief.

“Grief can not only be about all sorts of things, but it can also be in all sorts of stages. We can have grief that we are anticipating some event, grief of experiencing it, and grief after the event,” Weaver said.

Lantis said grief can also affect people very differently.

“Grief can have a wide effect, and that’s why it’s so hard to recognize that’s what’s going on for folks. People could feel physical sickness and other types of physical issues. In other cases, its frequent crying or loneliness, or the sense of being not as much as they were before,” Lantis said.

Weaver said many communities have grief support groups through churches, counseling centers and other community resources.

“For a lot of people having a community that understands the grief, whether that is a community of family members, and you spend that time together processing the grief or if it’s some other group or faith-based organization that you are a part of,” Weaver said.

She said awareness of grief is important.

“People need to be able to recognize not only that they are allowed to grief but the people around them may be experiencing grief,” Weaver said.

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