John Adkins, LMHC, LCAS
Mar 20, 2026
There's no right way to grieve. But there are ways to get support — especially when grief starts to feel like it's running your life.
People often come to grief counseling apologetically. They'll say things like "I know it's been a year, I should be over it by now" — as if grief has a deadline. It doesn't. Grief is one of the most personal, unpredictable experiences a person can go through, and the idea that it follows a neat set of stages is more myth than reality.
Grief can follow the death of a loved one, but it also follows divorce, estrangement, job loss, a miscarriage, the end of an important chapter, or the loss of a life you thought you were going to have. All of those losses are real, and all of them deserve space.
What Grief Can Look Like
Grief isn't always crying. It can look like numbness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, withdrawing from people you love, exhaustion, or throwing yourself into work to avoid feeling anything. It can come in waves — feeling okay for weeks, then being leveled by a song or a smell. It can resurface at anniversaries, holidays, or seemingly random moments.
When to Consider Grief Counseling
You don't have to be in crisis to benefit from grief counseling. Some people find it helpful early on, as a space to process without burdening the people around them. Others come in months or years later, when grief has gone underground and is showing up as depression, relationship strain, or a general sense of being stuck.
Signs that grief counseling might help: grief is interfering with work, relationships, or daily functioning; you feel unable to talk about the loss without shutting down; you're using alcohol or other substances to cope; or you're struggling with complicated feelings like guilt, anger, or relief that feel hard to make sense of.
Finding Support in Kernersville, NC
At JPB Counseling in Kernersville, we work with people navigating all kinds of loss. John Adkins brings a thoughtful, honest approach to grief work — creating space for the full complexity of what you're carrying, without rushing you toward resolution. We also offer telehealth for clients across the Piedmont Triad who can't make it in person.