Grief Therapy
- Home
- Grief Therapy
Grief and Loss Therapy at Astute
Compassionate, trauma-informed therapy for processing all forms of loss — including death, divorce, health, identity, and major life transitions.
Understanding Grief and Loss
Grief is a natural and universal reaction to loss. It can emerge not only after the death of a loved one but also through endings—relationships, health, roles, identity, safety, or life stages. Grief often comes in waves, alternating between sadness, anger, guilt, numbness, and moments of relief or peace.
At Astute, we honor all types of grief—death, divorce, illness, infertility, career change, and identity shifts—and support you in finding meaning, balance, and reconnection over time.
What Is Grief? (Psychoeducation)
Grief involves changes in both emotional and physical systems as your mind and body adjust to absence and change. It is not a single emotion—it is a landscape of feelings that come and go unpredictably.
- Types of grief: Bereavement, anticipatory grief, ambiguous loss, disenfranchised grief, and cumulative loss from multiple transitions.
- Symptoms: sadness, fatigue, sleep changes, guilt, anger, confusion, or “fog.” Physical symptoms may include heaviness in the chest, tension, or exhaustion.
- Healthy adaptation: allowing emotion, maintaining connection, creating rituals, and rebuilding meaning through compassionate support.
- Therapy helps: process emotions safely, integrate memories, and rebuild your relationship with yourself and the world after loss.
Therapy Options at Astute
- Grief Counseling
- Individual sessions to help you express emotions, explore meaning, and navigate life after change.
- Complicated Grief Therapy
- Specialized approach for long-term or complex grief that disrupts function, promoting re-engagement with life.
- ACT & Mindfulness-Based Therapy
- Helps hold pain gently while making space for purpose, compassion, and values-based living.
- Family & Relationship Grief Therapy
- Supports communication, shared mourning, and different grieving styles within families or couples.
- Trauma-Informed Support
- Addresses how trauma and sudden loss affect the nervous system, using grounding and regulation techniques.
- Holistic Support
- Integrated care that combines talk therapy with mind–body practices including Sound Baths, Reiki, Somatic Classes, and Yoga Therapy to regulate the nervous system, reduce tension, and foster emotional release.
Coordinated Support
- Collaboration with psychiatry and primary care for medication or integrative medical evaluation
- Referrals for community-based grief groups and support networks
- Onsite access to holistic services such as sound healing, yoga, and mindfulness programs
What to Expect at Astute
- Comprehensive intake: Your therapist helps you define your grief type and set goals for healing.
- Personalized plan: Combines evidence-based talk therapy with integrative healing options.
- Gentle, paced care: You set the tone; your therapist provides guidance, stability, and tools for self-care.
- Whole-person healing: Restoring connection between mind, body, and meaning.
Why Choose Astute
- Therapists specialized in grief, trauma, and life transitions
- Safe, inclusive environment for all types of loss
- Collaborative care integrating therapy, mindfulness, and wellness
- In-person and telehealth options for flexibility
Suggested Holistic Treatments for Grief
- Sound Bath & Vibrational Therapy — Deep nervous-system relaxation and emotional release
- Reiki Healing — Balances energy and supports emotional recovery after loss
- Somatic Movement Classes — Helps reconnect body awareness and ease tension from grief
- Yoga for Grief & Restoration — Breath-based postures to calm the body and release emotion
- Mindfulness Meditation — Improves self-compassion and acceptance
In Crisis?
If you are in crisis, please reach out to your nearest ER immediately.We are not open for crisis situations. Our hours are 8 AM – 8 PM, Monday through Friday.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Text: HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line)
Video Resource
Everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time. Some people recover from grief and resume normal activities within six months, though they continue to feel moments of sadness. Others may feel better after about a year.
Sometimes people grieve for years without seeming to find even temporary relief. Grief can be complicated by other conditions, most notably depression. The person’s level of dependency on the departed can also cause complications.
The grieving process often involves many difficult and complicated emotions. Yet joy, contentment, and humor do not have to be absent during this difficult time. Self-care, recreation, and social support can be vital to the recovery. Feeling occasional happiness does not mean a person is done mourning.
Grieving the loss of a loved one be a difficult process, whether the loss is due to death, a breakup, or other circumstance. One of the hardest challenges is adjusting to the new reality of living in the absence of the loved one. Adjusting may require a person to develop a new daily routine or to rethink their plans for the future. While creating a new life, a person may adopt a new sense of identity.
The DSM-5 does not define bereavement as a disorder. Yet typical signs of grief, such as social withdrawal, can mimic those of depression.
So how can one tell the difference between grief and depression?
Grief is typically preceded by loss. Depression can develop at any time.
The sadness present in grief is typically related to the loss or death. Depression is characterized by a general sense of worthlessness, despair, and lack of joy.
Symptoms of grief may improve on their own with time. Someone with depression often needs treatment to recover.
Despite their differences, depression and grief are not mutually exclusive. If someone is vulnerable to depression, grief has the potential to trigger a depressive episode. If someone already has depression, their condition may prolong or worsen the grieving process. A therapist can help a person in mourning recognize and manage any depressive symptoms.
https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/grief