There is a unique pain that comes with loss, and reaching out to talk about it can feel very scary.​ In the early days of a loss, you may find yourself struggling to accept that the loss is even real-- it's like your brain can't catch up to the fact that the person you love is no longer there. The emotions may be enormous and overwhelming, and remembering to complete the simplest daily tasks may take everything you have. People who mean well may have a way of saying exactly the wrong things. You might feel apart from everyone around you-- different, or disconnected. It can be hard to look ahead, and you may wonder how you could ever feel okay again.

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If it has been a while since the loss occurred, you may find yourself feeling like everyone around you has moved on. You might be wondering why you are still struggling so much, or be asking yourself "Is there something wrong with me? Shouldn't I be farther along?"

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There are also circumstances which can make navigating grief feel uniquely challenging, for example if you had a tumultuous relationship with the person you lost, or if you learned unpleasant things about them after they died. 

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Grief may also have you confronting bigger questions about life, death, and your own mortality.

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Reaching out to talk about grief is hard to do. It can feel like if you confront the grief, it will swallow you whole-- Like if you talk about it you might get stuck in your pain and never get out again.  But when we shut our grief away, we often see the effects spilling out in other areas of life: avoidance, irritability, difficulty sleeping, crying spells, and a host of other challenges.  As a therapist working primarily in grief, I have seen time after time how powerful it is when we allow ourselves to talk about our grief. To talk about the person we lost. To create space for it.

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Thaty's why, even though I don't know your circumstances yet, I am glad you are here reading this. 

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