Grief Counseling
Compassionate Grief Counseling & Therapy
Grief Has No Timeline—And That's Okay
Grief counseling can help you find your way through loss — on your own timeline, in your own way. There’s enormous pressure around grief. People expect you to “move on,” “be strong,” or “get over it” within some arbitrary timeframe. The truth? There is no “right way” to grieve. There is no timeline. There is no “should.”
Grief is one of the most profound human experiences, and it deserves to be honored, not rushed.
When you lose someone or something dear to you, the pain goes beyond emotion. You hurt in a deep, physical way—in your chest, your stomach, your entire body. Some days it feels unbearable. You might try to shut down your feelings, afraid they’ll consume your whole life. But when you avoid the grieving process, that unprocessed pain often emerges as anxiety, depression, or compulsive behaviors.
The truth is: grief counseling can help you find YOUR way through. Not someone else’s way. Not the “right” way. YOUR way.
At Center of Balance Counseling, I specialize in supporting adults through grief and loss using a compassionate, non-judgmental approach. Whether you’ve lost a loved one, your identity, your health, your expectations for the future, or any meaningful part of your life, I’m here to help you process the loss and integrate it into your life moving forward.
Understanding Grief: How Grief Counseling Can Help
Bereavement Grief: Loss of a Loved One
Bereavement is the grief that follows the death of someone meaningful—a parent, partner, child, sibling, friend, or family member. This is often the most recognized form of grief, yet it’s deeply personal and complex.
With bereavement grief, you might experience:
- Initial shock or numbness that protects you temporarily
- Waves of intense sadness that feel unpredictable
- Anger at the person for leaving, at yourself, or at life itself
- Guilt about things left unsaid or undone
- Physical pain—in your chest, stomach, or throughout your body
- Difficulty with basic tasks like eating, sleeping, or getting out of bed
- The surreal feeling that the death didn’t really happen
- Intrusive thoughts or memories of the person or the circumstances of their death
Bereavement counseling acknowledges that grief doesn’t have stages to “complete”—it’s a process of learning to live with the loss.
Anticipatory Grief: Grieving Before the Loss
Anticipatory grief happens when you know a loss is coming—when someone is terminally ill, when a relationship is ending, or when major life changes are approaching.
This type of grief is often overlooked, but it’s deeply real. You might experience:
- Emotional exhaustion from preparing for the loss
- Guilt about having these feelings while the person is still alive
- Attempts to “say goodbye” or resolve things before it’s too late
- Confusion about whether you should be grieving now or later
- Difficulty staying present with loved ones while also processing their impending absence
Anticipatory grief counseling can help you navigate this liminal space—honoring both your love for the person and the reality of what’s coming.
Disenfranchised Grief: Losses Society Doesn’t Always Recognize
Disenfranchised grief refers to losses that aren’t socially acknowledged or validated—yet the pain is entirely real.
This might include:
- Miscarriage or stillbirth (loss that society often minimizes)
- Death of an ex-partner or estranged family member
- Loss of identity (retirement, illness, job loss, role changes)
- Death of a pet (grief that others might dismiss as “just an animal”)
- Loss of dreams or expectations for your life
- Loss related to infertility or childlessness
- Grief related to relationships that never began
- Loss of health, independence, or abilities
- Grief in marginalized communities or non-traditional relationships
Disenfranchised grief can feel especially isolating because you lack social support and permission to grieve openly.
Complicated Grief: When Grief Gets Stuck
Most people move through grief in waves—some days are harder than others, but gradually, the intensity lessens and you learn to carry the loss. Complicated grief (also called prolonged grief disorder) is different.
With complicated grief, you might experience:
- Intense grief that doesn’t soften months or years after the loss
- Inability to imagine a future without the person
- Difficulty accepting the reality of the death
- Yearning and searching that feels overwhelming
- Loss of meaning or purpose in life
- Depression that accompanies the grief
- Feeling “stuck” in a particular moment or emotion
- Using distraction or avoidance as a primary coping strategy
Complicated grief often benefits from specialized grief counseling that helps you understand what’s keeping you stuck and how to move forward.
Multiple Losses: Grief Compounded
Sometimes losses come in rapid succession—multiple deaths, major life changes, or a series of losses that don’t allow time to process.
Multiple losses can create:
- Cumulative trauma and exhaustion
- Inability to grieve one loss fully before another occurs
- Compounded feelings of vulnerability and unsafety
- Difficulty distinguishing which loss is causing which emotions
- Sense that you’re in crisis mode rather than processing
Grief counseling for multiple losses acknowledges that your system is overwhelmed and provides support for integrating all of these experiences.
What Grief Counseling Actually Does
Grief counseling isn’t about “getting over it” or reaching “closure” (a concept many grief experts reject). It’s about:
Creating Space for Your Grief A safe place where you can express all of your feelings—sadness, anger, guilt, relief, even moments of joy—without judgment or pressure to move on.
Processing the Loss Moving from shock and numbness through the difficult emotions, so the loss is integrated into your life rather than avoided.
Building Coping Skills Learning practical tools for managing your emotions, maintaining self-care, and functioning while grieving.
Reducing Isolation Many people feel alone in their grief. Counseling helps you feel genuinely understood.
Addressing Complicated Grief If your grief feels stuck, we work to understand what’s keeping you there and move forward.
Healing Trauma (If Present) Sometimes grief involves traumatic circumstances (sudden death, violence, accident). We can address both the grief and any trauma using approaches like EMDR or somatic therapy.
Signs You Might Benefit From Grief Counseling
- Shock– the initial reaction of being stunned or numb
- Difficulty making decisions
- Disbelief – feeling that the death is surreal or did not really happen
- Helplessness – difficulty in performing activities of daily living
- Hopelessness – feelings that life may not be worth living
- Forgetfulness – unable to finishing what is started, absentmindedness
- Fearfulness – that someone else will die or that they are going “crazy”
- Restlessness – inability to sit still or concentrate or maintain focus
- Anger – that the death has occurred or that the person has left them
- Guilt – over what was left unsaid or undone in the relationship
- Emptiness – felt physically in the chest or stomach or other physical symptoms
- Pain – felt physically in the chest or stomach
- Tearfulness – burst of emotions at unexpected times
- Depression – experience sleep/appetite changes/low energy/sad mood, etc.
- Anxiety – feeling pressured to get control of emotions and be “normal” again
Most importantly: If you’re struggling with grief and feel like you’re not yourself, grief counseling can help.
Why Your Grief Deserves Grief Counseling Support
You don’t have to grieve alone. You don’t have to be “strong.” You don’t need to have it figured out.
What you need is someone who understands grief deeply—professionally and with genuine compassion. Someone who won’t rush you, judge you, or try to “fix” your sadness.
That’s what grief counseling offers.
The Benefits of Therapy for Grief & Loss
- Learn to work with your emotions
- Reduced self-judgment
- Increased coping skills
- Reduce feelings of isolation
- Get support for your choices
- Be heard and understood where you’re at
While I’m located in Ashland, OR, I offer online therapy for grief and loss to residents of Oregon, Washington, Georgia, New Jersey and Florida.
Return to your
Center of Balance
541-499-7338
Insurance Coverage for Grief Counseling & Therapy:
Aetna, First Choice Health, Providence, and Pacific Source. If you have a different insurance provider, I can work with you as an out-of-network provider.
I offer a FREE 15-minute consultation.
Find out how Grief Counseling can help you.
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Frequently Asked Questions
First it is helpful to understand what grief is. Grief and loss can come in many forms and that impacts of it can be varied from person to person. Grief is a natural response to loss and you may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt, and profound sadness. Grief counseling with a therapist that understands grieving and loss can support you in navigating the challenges that are internal with facing a loss and the external factors of how your life is impacted by loss.
The main goal of most grief counseling is to support you to integrate the reality of the loss(es) into your life going forward. There are many common mis-conceptions in regards to grief, and emotions in general which can impact you negatively and cause distress and shame. One false belief is that there is a time stamp on grief and that after a certain period of time that you should “just be over it”. This pressure can be your own expectations or the expectations of others. Grief is something that you can learn to live with through counseling. Counseling can support you in learning how to manage the difficult and sometimes surprising responses-physical, mental and emotional, that you may have with grief.
Here are some signs that you may need additional support with managing grief and loss.
- You’re having suicidal thoughts and/or persistent feelings of depression.
- You’re experiencing ongoing symptoms of distress, such as crying, insomnia, loss of appetite, increased irritability and anger, or panic attacks.
- You’re struggling to complete everyday tasks, including basic self-care.
- You feel a numbness to emotions. Feeling sad, confused or even happy is entirely acceptable during periods of mourning, so if you are feeling entirely numb and unable to reach any of these emotions, there may be cause for alarm.
- You feel an inability to move on or adjust to the change.
If you find yourself unable to move on from your loss months after it has occurred, you may just be a bit stuck in a particular feeling, behavior or way of thinking. This is not uncommon and there is help. - You frequent familiar places, hoping to see your departed loved one there, or avoid locations and situations that may remind you of your loss.
- You’re abusing substances, like alcohol or drugs, or engaging in addictive behaviors, like gambling.
- You’re worried about yourself, and/or others have expressed concern for your well-being.
- You’re withdrawn and avoiding social interaction.
- You don’t have family or friends to support you, or the people in your life can’t sustain the support you need over the course of a lengthy grieving process.
- You’re suffering from unexplained illnesses.
- You’ve experienced multiple losses in a short period of time.
- You’re feeling bereavement guilt and possibly blaming yourself for your loved one’s death or grappling with regret about your relationship with the deceased.
- You use busywork to escape feelings. While this is an extremely common way of dealing with loss, staying busy to avoid feeling sad is not a good long-term solution
- You’re plagued with intrusive thoughts, such as reliving the circumstances of your loved one’s death.
Here are some signs that you may need additional support with managing grief and loss.
- You’re having suicidal thoughts and/or persistent feelings of depression.
- You’re experiencing ongoing symptoms of distress, such as crying, insomnia, loss of appetite, increased irritability and anger, or panic attacks.
- You’re struggling to complete everyday tasks, including basic self-care.
- You feel a numbness to emotions. Feeling sad, confused or even happy is entirely acceptable during periods of mourning, so if you are feeling entirely numb and unable to reach any of these emotions, there may be cause for alarm.
- You feel an inability to move on or adjust to the change.
If you find yourself unable to move on from your loss months after it has occurred, you may just be a bit stuck in a particular feeling, behavior or way of thinking. This is not uncommon and there is help. - You frequent familiar places, hoping to see your departed loved one there, or avoid locations and situations that may remind you of your loss.
- You’re abusing substances, like alcohol or drugs, or engaging in addictive behaviors, like gambling.
- You’re worried about yourself, and/or others have expressed concern for your well-being.
- You’re withdrawn and avoiding social interaction.
- You don’t have family or friends to support you, or the people in your life can’t sustain the support you need over the course of a lengthy grieving process.
- You’re suffering from unexplained illnesses.
- You’ve experienced multiple losses in a short period of time.
- You’re feeling bereavement guilt and possibly blaming yourself for your loved one’s death or grappling with regret about your relationship with the deceased.
- You use busywork to escape feelings. While this is an extremely common way of dealing with loss, staying busy to avoid feeling sad is not a good long-term solution
- You’re plagued with intrusive thoughts, such as reliving the circumstances of your loved one’s death.
Grief counseling rates are the same as rates for other therapy.
**Insurance Coverage:** I accept Aetna in Oregon, Washington, Georgia, New Jersey, and Florida. First Choice Health, Providence, and Pacific Source insurance is accepted in Oregon and Washington. If you have insurance from another provider, I can work with you as an out-of-network provider and provide a superbill for reimbursement.
**Private Pay Options:** For clients without insurance or preferring to pay privately, I offer flexible rates, HSA/FSA acceptance, and several sliding scale spots for those with financial need.
Grief counseling can be brief and short-term depending on what your needs are. You may need someone who understands grief that you can talk to while you sort out how to continue to move through the process.
When there is traumatic loss, or multiple losses overtime you can develop symptoms that can look like depression, anxiety and PTSD that may need more longer-term support. Whenever you start counseling you can let the therapist know what your needs are and you can find a time frame together that will be the most supportive for your needs.
Time frames for grief counseling tend to range from six months to two years.
If you are struggling after a loss of any kind and feel like your emotions are hard to manage or that you just aren’t feeling like yourself, it is possible that grief counseling may help you find your way through. The best way to know if grief counseling may be helpful is to schedule a free consultation.
Center of Balance Counseling offers specialized online grief counseling and bereavement support throughout Oregon, Washington, Georgia, New Jersey, and Florida. Services include grief therapy for loss of a loved one, anticipatory grief, disenfranchised grief, complicated grief, and multiple losses. We provide compassionate support for adults processing bereavement, grief-related trauma, and life transitions. Available via secure telehealth.