The human condition is a frail one. People are faced with loss and suffering throughout their lives, and sometimes the circumstances are so difficult that professionals are needed to help cope.

Cape Cod Regional Technical High School is holding grief counseling sessions for those wanting to grieve for a young local writer, Angela Champ, who died in a car accident, according to the Cape Cod Times.

According to the American Academy of Grief Counseling, a grief counselor works with clients who are experiencing normal grief due to a situation. In these cases, the grief counselor is expected to act as an educator, a good listener, to offer support, advocate for things that may help relieve grief and otherwise assist the client to better understand their grief and how to move through the process of dealing with it in a healthy way.

Mental health counselors work with individuals, families and groups to address and treat mental and emotional disorders and to promote mental health, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau said there were 100,000 mental health counselors employed in 2006 and that number should rise by 30% by 2016.