Grief, Loss, and Bereavement Therapy in Toronto
While grief is a deeply natural response to losing someone or something meaningful to you, it can still feel disorienting, overwhelming, and completely unpredictable. Grief therapy can help.
We’re taught that grief looks one way; feeling sad for a while, then moving on, but the truth of grief is often much different. It’s not unusual to shift between sadness, to anger, to confusion, even relief. Grief is complex, and there is no one way to experience it.
Others often don’t know how to respond to grief. When they can’t “fix” something, many feel uncomfortable, and opt to look away or rush you through the process. It’s an unfortunate but common experience to be pushed to “move on” or “stay strong” after losing someone, but those messages often feel invalidating or impossible to do. Grief isn’t something that can be rushed, and loss is often not something we ever move on from. It’s something we carry with us and integrate into our lives at our own pace.
We can grieve the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, a loss of identity, a missed opportunity, or something that feels difficult to name. All losses matter, and in therapy, no loss will be minimized.
What Grief Can Feel Like
While experiences of loss range widely, those who grieve may notice:
- Huge, seemingly intolerable waves of sadness
- Physical heaviness, tiredness, or insomnia
- Difficulty concentrating on anything
- An inability to participate in day-to-day activities
- A sense that they’re disconnected from others
- Anger or constant irritation, perhaps with seemingly no cause
- A sense of guilt, regret, or self-blame
- Moments of relief
- Numbness or dissociation
- Changes in appetite
- A loss of purpose
- Anxiety about what the future looks like now
- Feeling like the world around you keeps moving forward while you’re stuck
Why People Seek Grief Therapy in Toronto
After a loss, people may reach out when:
- Their emotions become totally overwhelming
- They feel (or they’ve been made to feel) they’re “grieving wrong”
- Their grief has brought up other wounds or traumas
- They feel stuck in the grief
- They have no idea how to cope or face the loss
- They feel completely disconnected from other people or themselves
- Their loss feels invisible or unacknowledged by others
Grief Therapy Approaches
My approach to grief therapy is one that supports emotional expression, meaning-making, and nervous system regulation. I use the following strategies to help integrate grief into your life:
Psychoeducation & Self-Compassion Tools
Learn how grief can manifest and create a routine that allows you pockets of relief and compassion within the pain.
How Grief Therapy Helps
Studies show that grief therapy can help folks who experience distress as a result of grief.
In session you will never be rushed or asked to let go. Grief therapy is about giving your loss the space to be honoured and understood. Together, we’ll navigate your experiences and process your emotions and thoughts. The goal is not to “get over it,” it’s to work towards integrating loss into your life. Grief therapy can help you:
Express and process your loss
We’ll talk through all your emotions in a nonjudgmental, completely open space. You will never be encouraged to “move on” from your loss, and you will never be shamed for anything that comes up.
Make sense of the loss
We’ll explore the impact of your loss. What was the nature of the relationship? What meaning did it hold for you? How do we make sense of things now?
Understand your patterns of coping
The beginning stages of grief often just look like survival. We’ll find ways to get your base needs met and build more ways to support yourself compassionately.
Integrate grief into your life
We will not be working towards “closure” or “getting over it”. We will be looking for ways to integrate the loss into your life, so you can carry your grief while rebuilding connection, stability, and purpose in your life.
Rebuild identity and routine
It’s not uncommon to feel like you’ve lost yourself alongside something or someone else. In therapy, we can rebuild your identity, routine, and sense of self-worth in meaningful ways.
Is My Grief Normal?
All grief is completely normal, even when it feels intense, confusing, or different from how others around you grieve. Grief is something that is often dismissed, pushed to the side, rushed, or otherwise invalidated, but the truth is that there is no timeline, there is no “right way of doing it.” The only expectations that matter are yours.
You might find your grief hits you immediately, or doesn’t hit you for months or years. You might feel angry or cry constantly. You might feel numb and completely disconnected. All of these responses are okay and normal.
If you do notice that the intensity of the feelings never seem to let up (even for small moments), you notice yourself becoming compulsively consumed by your thoughts, or your mood leaves you completely unable to live your life; you very likely need support in restabilizing.
If you are experiencing active thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, you need immediate help and should call emergency services. In Canada, you can call 988 for suicide crisis, and 911 for emergency services.
FAQs About Grief Therapy in Toronto
How long does grief therapy take?
Can therapy help if the loss happened years ago?
Should I use therapy, medication, or both?
What if I am not ready to talk about everything?
Start Grief Therapy in Toronto
I’m a psychotherapist who offers both online and in-person grief therapy. You can choose what setting works best for you.
If you’re interested in grief therapy in Toronto, you can book a free 15-minute call with me. During the call, we’ll discuss what you’re looking to address, I’ll give you information about my practice, and we’ll see if we make a good fit.
If I’m not the right fit, I can help you find someone in my trusted network who might be.
