Whether the loss of a loved one is expected or sudden, it remains one of the most difficult challenges to overcome in life. It's hard to cope with the inevitable flood of emotions.

In your heart you know that your loved one wouldn't want you to grieve forever. They want you to carry on and live a good life, while still remembering and loving them. The best honor and dedication to your relationship with a loved one who has passed, is to have learned from not only the loss but the incredible love as well in order to live the rest of your life in a happy and healthy manner.

Each person must grieve in their own unique way and in accordance with their time frame. However, it can be helpful to know ways in which others have been helped in their grieving in the past.

Consider the following tips for coping with loss:

1. Be open. Your first reaction to loss may be to close up. You may need time alone to work through your feelings and to grieve. For some their first reaction to...

During challenging times we may want to be too busy to think about things. After a substantial loss, taking time to reflect can spark pain and feelings of emptiness.

Dissociation involves a continuum of experiences, ranging from a mild emotional detachment from immediate surroundings, to a more severe disconnection from physical and emotional experiences.

All levels of dissociation involves a detachment from reality. That is different from the   loss of reality as occurs in psychosis.

Dissociating is to separate our mind and thoughts from what's happening in our reality.  Our heart's voice may be muffled during difficult times in a relationship. We may fear we do not have the strength to hold the pain ourselves.

Victoria was devastated when her husband of 20 years chose to leave the marriage and began living with another woman. Victoria felt she could not cope with thoughts of the reality of her life in her mind.  With evidence of her loss everywhere and three...