Grief Therapy

Everyone will experience loss at some point - death of a loved one, end of a relationship, loss of a job, loss of a future you so desperately wanted. However universal grief may be, it’s also intensely personal - and usually, isolating. 

You may feel like you have broken. Like no one's heart has cracked like yours. Like no one else's chest has been as tight and constricted as yours. Like no one has felt this type of pit in their stomach: your gut hollow and your insides tied up in knots.

You may feel guilty; thinking: I shouldn’t feel this bad, I should be grateful for what I have left; I should have done more while I could. 

You may be confused, thinking: Is the loss big enough for my reaction? Has the loss actually happened? Why is it so ambiguous?

You may feel overwhelmed; asking: Will it ever end? Will life ever have meaning again? Do I even want to get through this? Will it cheapen my loss to move on? 

In grief, you may be experiencing a lot of different things, some of which are really conflicting. Grief can look like depression, can feel like weakness, and can last a long time. 

• Emotional symptoms of grief include: Sadness, despair, numbness, disbelief, guilt, anger, confusion, and a sense of emotional emptiness.
• Physical symptoms of grief include:  Fatigue, loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, body pains or heart aches, difficulty concentrating
• Social symptoms of grief include: Withdrawing from social activities, intense longing for the deceased, feeling misunderstood by others, worry that you’re being annoying because you haven’t moved on yet

The duration and intensity of symptoms can vary from person to person. That’s usually something that’s frustrating about grief - that there’s not a right way to do it. It seems like knowing this should make your experience of grief easier, but at first it can actually make you feel more lost, confused, and alone.

At Relational Psych, we provide individualized therapy for adults, teens, and children grappling with grief. Our psychodynamic approach helps you explore your feelings of grief at your own pace, aiming to identify and resolve conflicts that arise from unresolved or complicated grief. Our therapists understand that grief can be overwhelming and we aim to provide a safe, empathetic environment to navigate through your journey of healing. 

• Grief therapy for yourself: Your therapist will be committed to following your pace and supporting your specific journey with grief. You can repeat yourself again and again. You can laugh and cry at the same time. You can be numb and unemotional. You can say things out loud about your loss that you never would have said to them directly. You can even grieve a loss that was so long ago you may have forgotten the details. Your therapist will be with you and help you when you don’t know what to do next. 
• Grief therapy for your teen or child: For teens and children, therapy can provide a safe and supportive space to express their emotions, thoughts, and concerns. Therapy can help teens better understand the grieving process and normalize their feelings, allowing them to know that what they are experiencing is a natural response to loss. Therapy for adolescents can also be vital if the whole family unit is grieving and caregivers may be limited in supporting their child the way they want to while managing their own grief. 
• Grief therapy for a loved one: You may be sensing that someone in your life is having a hard time working through their own grief. This could be a child struggling with a major life transition like moving homes or starting a new school, a child who may seem too young to understand death, a teen who is refusing to talk to their parent with a terminal disease, a partner who seems angry all the time after losing a close friend, or an elderly parent who’s entire world has been affected by the  loss of their life-long spouse. Witnessing your loved one’s pain can be so awful and you may feel helpless. We can help you support your loved one by working through your own emotions and giving you the tools to have difficult conversations. 

You don't have to face this alone. We're here to help.