Grief therapy
There is no right way to mourn. No stage you should have moved past by now. Just a weight that deserves a consistent, attuned presence to hold it alongside you.
Schedule a free consultation →Grief is not only what we feel when someone dies, though that grief is real and deserves its own careful attention. We also grieve relationships, possibilities, versions of ourselves, futures we had imagined, childhoods we didn’t have, and connections that never fully formed. One of the most important things therapy can do for grief is simply recognize what is a loss, including the losses that culture, family, or circumstance do not name as such.
The approach here is patient and without a timetable. There is no correct arc for mourning, no stage you should have reached or passed by a certain point, no place where grief becomes inappropriate. The therapeutic relationship offers a consistent, attuned presence that can hold the full weight of what you have lost, including losses that others in your life may not recognize, or may have grown tired of hearing about.
A particular area of focus is what researchers call ambiguous grief: the grief that arises when the person is still alive but the relationship has fundamentally changed, when the loss is not marked by a death but by an estrangement, a diagnosis, a marriage ending, or a child growing up and away. This kind of grief is among the most difficult because there is no social ritual for it, no permission granted by the culture to mourn, and often genuine confusion about whether what you are feeling is even legitimate. It is.
Explore individual therapy →What people ask about this work
How is grief therapy different from talking with friends or family?
Friends and family provide genuine comfort, but they are also grieving, or they tire of the conversation, or they want you to feel better faster. Therapy offers a space with no such burden on you, a relationship specifically structured to hold whatever you bring without agenda, without exhaustion, and without the grief of the therapist interfering. It also offers a trained perspective on what you are experiencing that can help you understand your own grief more clearly.
Is it normal to feel relief, numbness, or even nothing after a loss?
Yes, and these experiences are more common than the cultural narrative of grief suggests. Relief is particularly common when someone has suffered for a long time before dying, or when a relationship was painful or complicated. Numbness is the psyche’s way of managing more than it can process at once. None of these responses mean you loved less, cared less, or are grieving wrong. They are all valid parts of the experience.
What is ambiguous grief?
Ambiguous grief, a term coined by Pauline Boss, refers to loss without resolution, or loss that lacks the social recognition that typically accompanies death. Examples include: a loved one with dementia who is physically present but psychologically absent; estrangement from a living parent or child; the grief of infertility, a miscarriage, or a lost pregnancy; mourning the end of a marriage; grieving the childhood you did not have. This practice has significant experience working with these forms of grief.
I lost a relationship, not a person. Is grief therapy still appropriate?
Absolutely. The loss of a meaningful relationship, romantic, familial, or otherwise, can produce grief as profound and disorienting as the loss of a person to death. Often it is harder to name as grief, and therefore harder to receive support for. Therapy offers a space to recognize, mourn, and integrate the loss regardless of what category it fits.
If this resonated, let’s talk.
A free 15-minute consultation is the first step. It’s a chance to ask questions, share what you’re carrying, and see whether this practice feels like the right fit.
Schedule a free consultation →