“Life is a process of accumulating losses. How we integrate or ignore, process or push away those losses -- of everything: jobs, friendships, relationships, health, things that matter to us -- starts to become patterns” - Donna Schuurman, family therapist, executive director emeritus, the Dougy Center, Portland, OR.
 
It’s human nature to form deep connections with other people, animals, places, and things. The things you love provide you with an immense amount of joy and even give you a newfound purpose in your own life.
 
Yet, you can rarely fully prepare yourself for the loss of something near and dear to you. When such a traumatic loss occurs, both the body and mind respond in the form of grief.
 
The grieving process can be long and arduous, but it’s absolutely necessary to move forward with your life.
 
Grief is very common. WebMD conducted a survey in 2019, “Grief: Beyond the 5 Stages,” which surveyed 1,084 people and of those, 780 reported grieving a life event in the past 3 years, that's 72% of respondents.
 
In this guide, we’ll go over the basics of what grief is, how grief typically manifests itself in humans, and how you can help guide yourself through the process and get to the other side