Moving Through Grief With Resiliency
From the Interim CEO / ED
By Beverly Smith , PhD , LPC , NCC , CCMHC , ACS , NCSC , CFT , HS-BCP , BCC , MAC , BC-TMH , CCTP , BCPCC AMHCA Past President , 2022 – 2023 , and Interim CEO / ED
Moving Through Grief With Resiliency
For some , grief has been a frequent companion over the last few years . Many of us have experienced — and indeed , are experiencing — grief . None of us is immune from human suffering . COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on our lives and serves as a reminder that we cannot escape suffering and pain . Although the terms pain and suffering are used interchangeably , they are different . The National Institute of Health states : “ Pain is a physical sensation or signal indicating a [ distressful ] event within the body . Suffering is the interpretation of that event and involves thoughts , beliefs , or judgments , and reflects the human experience of pain . Pain can cause suffering when it is uncontrolled or persists .” bit . ly / 3qxWL8U
The magnitude of the worldwide mental health crisis is evident in the statistics about the pervasiveness of pain and suffering that is being experienced by many people of all ages . These statistics — from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health , bit . ly / 3CpEspl , a 2023 report by SAMHSA ( the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ), along with the CDC ’ s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System ( BRFSS ) research , www . cdc . gov / brfss — demonstrate the impact of human pain and suffering on mental health . Here are just a few of these statistics :
Ä 50 million Americans ( 21 %) are experiencing a mental illness . Ä
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More than 12.1 million American adults ( 4.8 %) have reported serious suicidal thoughts .
Of youths aged 12 – 17 , 16.39 % reported suffering from at least one major depressive episode ( MDE ) in the past year .
With pain and suffering comes disappointment , heartache , heartbreak , tears , and the disruption or interruption of business as usual . Thus , opening our hearts and minds to new beginnings is necessary , though we all know it ’ s not always easy . Some are still trying to search for an old normalcy in a world of new possibilities . Consciously moving forward with a new sense of resiliency is a good start to personal and professional selfcare that impacts organizational growth .
7 Strategies for Promoting Resiliency When Experiencing Grief
1 . |
Understand that owning your grief story is not the same as saying you agree |
with the hurt . |
2 . |
Accept the opportunity to reassess the meaning of life and your purpose . |
3 . |
Create connections by encouraging others to welcome the opportunity to |
rediscover themselves . |
4 . |
Remember the past as a reflection and not the destination . |
5 . |
Promote a genuine sense of collective community well-being . |
6 . |
Adopt a survivor mentality while releasing the victim mentality . |
7 . |
Show self-compassion that is free of judgment and with an abundance of kindness . |
To employ the seven strategies successfully when experiencing grief , it is necessary to address any concerns that foster ambivalence . As an individual , this means giving adequate attention to traumatic events in both our personal and professional lives . To foster personal , professional , and community well-being , it is beneficial to promote traumainformed leadership , practices , and policies . ( For more on grief , see pages 11 – 23 .)
AMHCA Board of Directors
President , 2022 – 2023 Fredrick Dombrowski president @ amhca . org
President-Elect Deirdra Sanders-Burnett presidentelect @ amhca . org
Past President & Interim CEO / ED Beverly Smith pastpresident @ amhca . org
Treasurer G . Michael Pilcher treasurer @ amhca . org
Director-at-Large Luis Charles Hines directoratlarge @ amhca . org
North Atlantic Region Director Seth Wizwer northatlanticregiondirector @ amhca . org
Southern Region Director Aaron Norton southernregiondirector @ amhca . org
Midwest Region Director Napoleon Harrington midwestregiondirector @ amhca . org
Western Region Director Karen Langer westernregiondirector @ amhca . org
Graduate Student Representative Rebecca Perry graduatestudentrep @ amhca . org
AASCB Rep . ( ex-officio ) Joseph Weeks josephrweeks @ yahoo . com
AMHCA Staff
• Interim CEO / ED Beverly Smith amhcaceo @ gmail . com
• Chief Strategic Officer , Director of Communications & Chapter Relations Whitney Meyerhoeffer wmeyerhoeffer @ amhca . org
• Director of Finance , Operations , & Membership Management Melissa McShepard mmcshepard @ amhca . org
• Director , Office of Credentialing and Continuing Education , Director of Events Rebecca Woodson rwoodson @ amhca . org
The Advocate Magazine 2023 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org 55