Grief Counseling Resources
Deep Run High School
Reaching School Counselors
All of the Deep Run School Counseling staff are available via phone to talk with students, parents, and staff. Please reach out to anyone below if you need to talk.
Mrs. Jackson: (757) 550-0802
Mrs. Ransom: (757) 563-3505
Ms. Bien: (804) 620-7746
Mrs. Gallegos: (804) 495-3672
Mrs. Kaplan: (804) 719-1171
Finding Outside Assistance
Full Circle Grief Center - Full Circle offers a variety of resources to help children, adults, and families navigate the grief process. They have a bereavement resource manual, which can be found here, that is a wealth of information for families. They have a long list of community resources that begins on page 35 of the manual.
Due to current COVID19 pandemic, some counseling practices may not operating or may be operating on a reduced capacity. Click here for a list of known open providers, but please reach out to any practice you may be interested in using even if not on this list to find out their current operating status.
8 Things to try when the grief gets intense
1. Breathe. When we get tense we tend to hold our breath or have short,
shallow breaths. First, just notice that you are breathing and then try slowing it down, breathing more into your belly, and exhaling a little longer than you inhale.
2. Move your body. This doesn’t have to be a sport (but it can be) — take a walk, do a push-up, dance, or try cleaning. It's strange, but it can help! The Grief Practice has an webpage (linked) and an instagram account that has movement ideas.
3. Express yourself. Write, draw, organize, listen to/play music, or anything else that lets you express yourself without having to talk to someone. Here is a link to a short journaling exercise if you need help getting started!
4. Make room for whatever feelings are coming up. If you try to push them away, they will probably just push back harder. Feelings change and they won’t last forever. Grief has no timeline, but it really does change over time.
5. Be kind — to yourself. Grievers tend to give themselves a really hard time for not doing grief right — whatever that “right” might be. Remind yourself you’re doing the best you can in the moment and that it’s okay you’re having a hard time.
6. Be a good friend — to yourself. Experiment with telling yourself you can do this, even if you don’t know what you’re doing. You might be feeling emotions you’ve never had before or doing things in life for the first time and all of it is happening without the person who died. Take a moment to acknowledge how new and different this is and tell yourself, “Even if I’m overwhelmed right now, I will figure this out.” And then…
7. Ask for help. We know, this one can be really hard and scary to do. Keep it simple and remember that people usually want to help, they are just waiting to be asked.
8. Take time to celebrate whatever is going well. When you’re grieving it can be hard to make space for feeling good. You might feel guilty if you find yourself laughing or having a good time. Taking a break from grief doesn’t mean you love or miss the person any less.
(this is taken from The Dougy Center)