Bereavement counselling can help you to explore your feelings and come to terms with your grief by talking one to one with a trained counsellor. You will probably attend a number of sessions with your counsellor spread over weeks or months, until you are ready to stop. During these sessions you can talk about how you feel and your counsellor will listen and comment, rather than giving you advice. Bereavement counselling can help to support you through this very difficult time.

Counselling is sometimes called a talking therapy. It can help you to explore your feelings and come to terms with your grief in a place where you can talk openly to someone trained to help you. Counselling takes place in private and is always confidential, unless your counsellor thinks there is a serious threat to your life or health or to the life or health of another person. If this is the case, your counsellor might contact your GP or someone else.

You and your counsellor meet, usually once a week, to talk for a set amount of time. The number of sessions you have will depend on what you feel you need.

Counsellors don't give advice as such and they can't tell you what you should do. What they can help you do is to see things more clearly or reassure you that your feelings are normal. Counsellors do this by listening to what you say and commenting on it from their perspective.

During a session your counsellor can help you to explore and express your feelings, talking about them openly in a way that might not be possible with your family and friends. It's easy to bottle up your feelings after a bereavement, especially if you need to 'cope' in order to get back to work or support other family members or your children. These feelings, such as anger, anxiety and grief, can become very intense. Counselling can give you an opportunity to explore them and make them easier to understand. Counsellors see people in your situation often and are used to listening to people who are distressed - they won't be shocked by what you are feeling or by what you say. Many people find it a relief simply to talk to a stranger. Counselling can also provide a safe environment for you to voice your feelings.

Bereavement counselling isn't about exploring your past. Instead, counselling offers help at a specific time when you are going through a major life change and emotional crisis.