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Therapy for Grief

Grief is a personal journey and each person has their own process. In therapy, exploring your grief could be the healing journey you need.

Grief is a deeply personal journey, and no two people experience it the same way. It may come in waves, move through cycles, feel unpredictable, or linger quietly in the background longer than expected. Sometimes grief feels overwhelming, while other times it may show up as sadness, anger, regret, confusion, or even resentment. In many ways, grief invites us into reflection — asking us to slow down, feel, remember, and make meaning of our loss.

Healing does not mean forgetting or “getting over” what has happened. It means learning to integrate it into into your life, find acceptance and allow it to be with you how it shows up.

While the primary experiences people often associate with grief are illness and the death of a loved one, grief can be evoked during any major life event -- good, bad or neutral -- when significant change has occurred that is out of someone’s control. These major life events can include divorce, job loss, financial insecurity, physical abuse, empty nesting and even the onset of a global pandemic.

 

Processing grief can help you develop a relationship with your loss that feels more gentle, loving, and compassionate over time. You do not have to force yourself to stay strong or push through your pain alone. It is healthy to talk about your feelings, fears, hopes, memories, and sadness in a safe and supportive space.

Grief is not something to fear or avoid. It is a natural expression of love, connection, and humanity. With support, grief can become part of your story in a way that allows healing, growth, and deeper understanding of yourself and your life.

Our therapists are here to support you in a compassionate and kind way.

 

We want to ....​

Give you the space to talk about your feelings and reflections

Understand yourself more deeply by not judging the feelings, but allowing them space to be spoken

Talk about what you have learned and changes you may want to make

Understand the value of mourning

Think about how much better you can feel if you understand your grief.

They are not the same and we want to help you understand your personal journey with it. Don't keep it all inside, we are here for you.

 

Whatever you are feeling, it's OKAY.

  • Normal Grief - usually in response to the loss of someone you love or care about, the loss of something important (career, job, relationship, divorce) and usually follows the stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance.

  • Delayed Grief - when a person suppresses their feelings, chooses not to process the feelings or wants to avoid them. It can also take a while for the grief to settle in and it comes much later after the loss.

  • Cumulative Grief - when a person experiences multiple losses in relatively short period of time. With each new loss it compounds the grief or sadness and can become intense.

  • Prolonged Grief - this is also described as "complicated grief," defined by persistent feelings of intense grief that doesn't get better with time. It can impair a person's ability to function or adapt after a loss.

  • Anticipatory Grief - this is when a person begins to feel the loss of a person or something significant before it happens. This can occur with loved ones who are diagnosed with a terminal illness, with aging parents, knowing a marriage may end soon or a career may be coming to an end naturally, like retirement, or waiting for layoff announcements.

  • Chronic Grief - the grief persists for an extended period or even a lifetime. It is common with a very deep., loving attachment plus the lack of support or emotional connection with others. The heart can feel "broken" and feeling better seems impossible.

  • Distorted Grief - you may feel a range of normal grief related feelings but you still deny the reality of your loss, have persistent guilt or self blame or have self destructive behaviors such as substance abuse, self harm or acting out.

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