The Ultimate Comfort Food: Culinary Grief Therapy

(Newswire.net — April 2, 2016) South Pasadena, CA — Bereavement coordinator Heather Nickrand has started a new type of grief therapy—called culinary grief therapy. This idea had come about after she had noticed a sad trend in people who had recently lost their spouses, they had avoided cooking for one and turned to unhealthy options. As it turns out, many people who have lost a spouse say that dinner is the most dreaded meal of the day. It is an overwhelming experience to figure out how to cook for themselves, only to sit alone at the kitchen table. This is what makes meal time the most overlooked aspect of grief.

According to The Daily Herald, Nickrand created a workshop series called Cooking for One to combat the problem. The series works with the College of DuPage Culinary and Hospitality Department in Glen Ellyn and features live cooking demonstrations with professional chefs. This offers participants a chance to learn new food strategies while engaging in bereavement counseling. Within these sessions, people can see simple recipes being made in a live demonstration, within a community setting, they can feel more supported. This type of therapy is interactive and engaging, and has the ability to inspire and empower participants.

Through the power of community and good food, people are able to take a set towards moving on from their pain. With one of the most painful parts of their grief behind them, they have the tools to move forward and onward.

“Grief doesn’t have to be a life sentence when you know what is going on and what to do. Once these things are known and we have the tools to enable our progression and healing, we are free to grow and gain character and appreciation from our losses. Life and Loss are inseparable but pain and loneliness don’t have to be part of that. Let me help you navigate the landscape of your grief experience with proven tools, processes and information to light your way, on this journey,” explains Paula Shaw, the author of Grief… When Will This Pain Ever End?: A Guide to Finding Your Way Out of the Depths of Despair After Suffering Profound Loss, a book dedicated to providing you with the tools and processes to helping you through your journey through grief and loss.

“Measurable change quickly occurs and concrete results manifest in far less time than with traditional therapies which only focus on the conscious mind. Working with a wide variety of healing modalities, I provide my clients with the most effective processes for their specific needs. Because every person has unique challenges, this customized approach is critical to their success,” Shaw says.

Finding a way to cope with grief can be a challenge for anyone, but once you find what works for you coping with your grief can be more manageable than ever. Whether you find healing through culinary grief therapy or elsewhere you will always be able to find the strength within yourself to get through it. Paula Shaw’s book, http://www.amazon.com/dp/0996317414/, will help you find the strength to manage your own grief and much more. “I decided I wanted to compile a truly helpful arsenal of tools to help others work through their grief journeys. In this book I’ve done just that giving you tools and processes and information to help you on your healing journey to move through your pain but at your own pace because no two people will go through this healing journey in exactly the same way or the same amount of time. But you’re not going to have to do it alone. I’m going to be with you every step of the way,” states Shaw.

Paula Shaw will give you the tools to not only face the pain of loss, but deal with the grief one step at a time, one day at a time.

 

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