Author: Octavio Cruz, M.S., LPC-S

Octavio Cruz, M.S., LPC-S, currently works with children and youth populations as a Magellan Federal Military and Family Life Counselor (MFLC) in Italy. He has more than 20 years of experience balancing spirituality and emotional wellbeing as a chaplain within a hospital setting and as a professional counselor. He believes loss, grief, and bereavement are areas of intervention where there is much work to be done. With a background in psychology, clinical pastoral education, and behavioral health integration in primary care, he has been able to connect with processes that go beyond loss to the discovery of meaning and purpose. He is a husband and a father of three young men. With the recent death of his father, the subject of grief through his own experience has gained relevance in his life and that is why he chose to share this article.