At Sierra Tucson, we are committed to helping our residents heal in a complete manner that addresses their physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual needs. This Mind-Body-Spirit philosophy addresses the ways in which our thoughts, actions, feelings, and emotions influence each other — and pays particular attention to unresolved issues that continue to damage our residents’ ability to heal past wounds and pursue a healthier future.
Two important aspects of this approach to treatment are grief and spirituality.
The Impact of Unresolved Grief
Recovery from substance abuse, eating disorders, depression disorders, and other self-defeating behaviors often involves recognizing that grieving (that process by which all humans adjust to loss and change), has been a significant and frequently under-acknowledged dynamic in our lives.
For example, in the cases of individuals who turned to substance abuse or another form of self-harm in order to numb themselves to the pain of loss, unresolved grief can resonate for years — even decades — and can stop a person from moving forward in a productive manner.
At Sierra Tucson, our staff members are trained to teach residents how to grieve in a healthy and natural process that leads to resolution of loss. Residents learn how this process has been interrupted by the use of mood-altering substances, compulsive behaviors, trauma, or dysfunctional family roles. Residents are guided into the grief that has been inhibited, thereby allowing the process of healing to occur naturally.
Benefits & Outcomes of Grief Therapy
Outcomes of grief work frequently include increased self-esteem, reduction in reported depression and self-harm, and dramatic emergence of energy for life and the tasks of recovery. Emotional access is further encouraged as the bridge to personal spiritual discovery. We believe that the ability to identify, experience, and express all emotions appropriately is the conduit to authenticity, values clarification, and passionate connections with self and others.
Grief and Spirituality Groups at Sierra Tucson
Grief and spirituality therapists co-facilitate grief work in Process Groups and lead Specialty Grief Groups for residents with unresolved losses. Residents may be assigned to individual grief/spiritual consultations.
Spirituality is enhanced through 12-Step meetings and Step work, nondenominational services, walking the labyrinth, talking circles, yoga, and meditation. Residents are encouraged to explore their spirit in our transformative desert setting—with music, art, physical movement, and Equine-Assisted Therapy.
