NEWS UPDATE

Veronica Parker, Criminal Justice Student, Earns CLCA CertificateBrentwood Industries Donates Equipment to Blue Ridge Agribusiness ProgramBlue Ridge CTC Board of Governors Meeting April 2, 2025Blue Ridge Community and Technical College Awarded $571,442 through West Virginia’s Nursing Workforce Expansion ProgramCommunity Free Seminars on Internet and AI Coming to Morgan CountyBlue Ridge CTC Board of Governors Meeting December 4, 2024BRCTC Attends Mike Rowe ProgramBlue Ridge Community and Technical College Now Offers DISC Assessments for Community BusinessesBlue Ridge CTC and Washington High School Key Club Partner for Hurricane Helene ReliefBRCTC Recieves Grant to Support Creation of a New Commercial Driver’s License Certification ProgramBlue Ridge CTC Board of Governor’s Meeting October 2, 2024

Take Advantage of Grief Counseling Services

Blue Ridge CTC offers a variety of counseling and mental health support resources to students, faculty and staff.

Learn More

Outcomes of Seeking Grief Counseling

With the right resources and assistance during such a difficult transition, you can:

Focus on Problem Areas

Express Feelings & Emotions Openly

Manage Anxiety and Stress

Address Guilt Feelings

Build a Strong Support System

Reconcile with Reality

Learn to Move Forward

Obtain Grief Counseling Support

Blue Ridge CTC offers resources to assist you in easing grief.

When You Should Seek Grief Counseling

Grief counseling assists when individuals are unable to reconcile loss and experience constant emotional pain. Grief counseling can assist with the acceptance of loss and gradually move toward a new daily routine.

Who Is Eligible for Grief Counseling

Grief counseling services are available to all students, faculty and staff.

East Ridge Health Systems

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College supports the mental health and wellness of our students, faculty, and staff through our contract with EastRidge Health Systems, a local community behavioral health facility. Students, faculty, and staff are provided with a consultation and two therapy sessions at no cost.

To schedule an appointment, call 304.263.8954 ext. 7052. Identify yourself as a Blue Ridge student, faculty or staff member and be prepared to offer your name, birthdate, health insurance information, and a good phone number for you. You will receive a return call to schedule an appointment.

In the event of a mental health crisis, the 24-hour hotline is available to everyone at 304.263.8954 ext. 4. During daytime hours, please stay on the line until someone answers your call! Although it may take some time, your call WILL be answered. After hours, leave a message, and your call will be returned within 20 minutes.

Hospice of the Panhandle

Citizens of Berkeley, Jefferson, Hampshire, and Morgan counties receive free grief support. To schedule an appointment, call 800.345.6538 or complete the contact form.

For questions or help regarding Grief Support, contact access@blueridgectc.edu

Frequently Asked Questions!

If you have some unattended questions, here are their answers!

The death of someone close to us is a terrible emotional trauma. The grief we feel is a normal, natural, and necessary reaction to that trauma.
Our grief can cause feelings of panic, desperation, anger, and great sadness and guilt. We might be confused, forgetful, and not able to make decisions. We might feel helpless, hopeless, and out of control. This can be very frightening, but it is not “going crazy.” These are typical grief reactions, which will gradually begin to go away.
Anger comes from hurt or fear, and the death of someone we love hurts us and might make us afraid. We might be angry at health care professionals, other family members, the person who died, or God. On top of that, we can be angry with ourselves. It can be a difficult thing for us to feel angry or to admit it, but it is just a phase of grief that will pass on. If it doesn’t, it might be good to speak with someone about it, to get some ideas on how to express the anger in a healthy way.
When someone dies we might feel guilt. This can involve feeling responsible for the death in some way or for conflict in the relationship in the past. If so, it might be good to find someone we trust with whom we can talk about it. More often, though, we feel regret, which is different from guilt. Guilt is when I blame myself for something bad that happened. Regret is when I feel bad that something happened but I realize it wasn’t my fault.
Grief is very personal. There’s no timetable for it. It can come and go. You might already have grieved a lot. Or your mind might be “taking a rest” from the grief, or putting it “on hold” for a while. It could be an indication that you’re moving into a different phase of grief. There will be good days and bad days, and as time goes on…more good ones than bad ones.
All of the world’s major religions accept that grief is a part of human nature. Both the Jewish and Christian scriptures of the Bible are full of stories of devout people in grief. A noted Christian theologian once said that when his son was killed in a car accident, “God’s heart was the first to break.”
When a death occurs the relationship with our loved one changes, but it doesn’t necessarily end. What we do have to adjust to is the loss of the physical presence of the person and all that it meant to us. And in time we must learn to reengage emotionally with others. Other than that, our beloved is still a part of us. What we “let go” of is the pain we feel in their absence.
Long after the worst part of our grief ends, we will still have memories of the person and love for them. In a way, the “end” of our grief simply means that we are once again able to freely love the person since we are no longer consumed by our personal sorrow, confusion, and anguish. We won’t forget them, and will probably even love them more over time.
Yes. The grief you’re feeling now can end. The term “mourning” refers to the process of coming to terms with the death, the absence of our beloved, and one’s grief. Like any process, it takes time. There are no timetables for grief and it will not end in one dramatic moment. It will diminish little by little.
Grief is so personal. What is helpful for one person might not be for another. However, some things that can help are: being patient with one’s self – knowing that it will take time, being aware of one’s feelings and learning to express them in some way, finding someone to talk to, and getting information about grief.

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