Therapy for Grief and Loss
We Offer You a Compassionate Space to Remember
You have never experienced a pain like the one you are experiencing now. Nothing feels like it will ever be the same without your loved one or that which you valued. The experience of change that involves loss is also grieving. Grief hurts and no one gets to tell you to how grieve or for how long.
Do I need therapy for grief?
Grief is a healthy emotional reaction to loss, and everyone experiences grief in their own way.
We often feel grief when we lose a loved one or a pet. We feel sad, lonely, and hurt because of the love we had for them. In some cases, grief can happen with the loss of one’s identity – loss of a job, loss of good health, loss of parenthood or marriage, etc. We grieve over the life we imagined for ourselves, the future we planned out, or the life we once enjoyed. Sometimes, we don’t feel anything after the shock of the loss, only to have grief emerge later on. Sometimes, grief lasts a few days or weeks. Sometimes it hurts for months or even years.
Often, we are able to continue on, with a new relationship with that which we lost, finding an enduring connection in our memories. But sometimes, grief gets in the way of living a happy, healthy life – also called complicated grief. Some common signs of complicated grief can include:
Emotional pain that keeps you from working, playing, or loving
Avoiding reminders of the loss
Difficulty sleeping, eating or otherwise taking care of yourself
Guilt or shame related to the loss
Anger, irritability or aggression
“Self medicating” to cope with the loss
Difficulties such as these are particularly common when the loss was also traumatic in nature In those cases, trauma-focused approaches can be an incredibly helpful and healing therapy option for people with traumatic grief.
How can therapy for grief help?
Therapy for grief isn’t about forgetting or “moving on.” It’s about healing from the hurt, finding peace, remembering, and moving forward with a life that matters. Therapy does this in three main ways:
First, therapy provides a safe, confidential space to feel seen and heard as you work through the pain of the loss. It’s common to experience mixed and confusing feelings related to grief, such as anger, resentment, guilt, or relief. You get a chance to feel validated without fear of shame or judgment.
Second, therapy offers a source of emotional support and care. You can rely on someone who gets what you are going through and supports you along the way, whether you are expecting or anticipating a loss, facing new grief, or continuing to grieve loss from the past. Your therapist acts as your guide on the grief journey, and you get to take things at your pace.
And third, therapy offers a chance to learn healthy coping strategies. Grief often makes us forget to take care of ourselves, especially when we need to take care of others. Our job is to help you be your own support, take care of your mind and body, and begin living again. You get to learn new, personally tailored coping strategies for living with the pain of loss in a healthy manner.
As you progress on your grief journey, you can begin to feel better and live well again – you deserve nothing less.
What does grief therapy look like?
Each session is completely confidential and tailored to your needs. Our approach to therapy is compassionate, caring, and evidence-based with the intent of providing you with an optimal therapy experience. We draw from a range of therapeutic modalities, such as psychodynamic, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, art and expressive therapies help you ease suffering during your grief process.
Therapy for grief and loss can help you:
Use healthy coping strategies
Feel seen, heard, and supported
Reconnect with yourself and others
Manage difficult, painful emotions
Develop a new relationship with lost loved ones
All of us live through ups and downs; through misery and joy, the miracle of birth and heartache of grief. Grief cannot be “fixed,” nor is it a problem to solve. We are in this with you.
Grief is the last act of love, and we offer you a soft place to fall, because “grief is something to be held and not fixed.”
Release Yourself