Sometimes people get stuck in grief. If you are willing to accept help moving on, there is a lovely life waiting for you.
Question:
My mom passed away nine years ago when I was ten years old. I feel I have dealt with it, but I don’t think my dad has.
He has quite a stressful job, and comes home shouting at me and my sister for the tiniest things. This has been getting worse over the past year or so. I would not say he is abusive – I can see that when he raises his voice something stops him and he actually feels embarrassed without us saying anything.
He has not dated since my mom passed away, and I think he feels the loss even more when he does not have a partner to talk things through with. His stress is affecting everyone in the house.
I am also worried about his physical health since he has started drinking quite a lot. I wouldn’t say he is an alcoholic, but I am worried that it will get worse.
I want to go to university soon, but I can see that he wouldn’t cope without me, and I don’t want my little sister to take over from me and spend her life caring for him.
How do I get my dad to agree to family counselling? I feel that would have a better chance than me asking him to go for personal counselling – he has his pride