Grief Counseling

Your Path to Healing After Loss

✔ Standard 55-minute sessions

✔ Private, comfortable office or therapy room

✔ Options for weekly, multiple times per week, or monthly sessions

✔ We adjust meeting frequency based on your progress and evolving needs

a person pausing to reflect in the woods

Inspiring

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Committed

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Growing

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Caring

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Inspiring 〜 Committed 〜 Growing 〜 Caring 〜

At South Hills Counseling, we believe Grief Therapy offers a powerful opportunity for meaningful processing and personal growth after loss.

Our approach creates a comfortable, supportive atmosphere where you can explore your grief, discover new ways of coping, and develop strategies that promote healing while honoring what you've lost.

We tailor our therapeutic methods to your unique needs, helping you transform overwhelming grief into manageable emotions that allow you to move forward while keeping meaningful connections to what you've lost.

SESSION ENVIRONMENT

✔ Relaxed, welcoming space with comfortable seating

✔ Conversations that honor your unique grief experience

✔ Complete confidentiality, with clear explanation of legal exceptions

✔ Compassionate support for all emotions that arise during the grieving process

What is Grief?

When we lose something, we often feel a sense of hurt. The emotional response of hurt lets us know what we lost was meaningful or important. Although the hurt can fade with time, sometimes the loss leaves us feeling empty or broken. These feelings of grief can keep us from living the life we want or need.

Grief is a complex process that can affect emotional, physical, and social well-being.

Grief is also normal and a part of the human experience. We often regain a sense of normalcy and stability after some time, and some grief takes longer than others to process. You do not have to do this alone. Clients who engage in practices such as psychoanalytic grief therapy and psychodynamic therapy for complex grief can navigate the emotional complexities of loss in a supportive, empathic environment with a highly-trained professional.

HOW THERAPY HELPS WITH GRIEF

Working with a therapist in grief and loss counseling provides hurting clients with a space to cope and find freedom from unhealthy grief.

As you work through your grief with one of our therapists, you will notice:

  • Decreased responses to traumatic triggers

  • Greater understanding of self and others

  • Feelings of compassion and forgiveness

  • Insight regarding potentially harmful life patterns

  • A greater understanding of your unique personality

  • Greater capacity for emotional communication

  • Improvements in social relationships

Each of our therapists is dedicated to providing a safe space where you can explore your psychological world. We are passionate about serving our community through thorough expert treatment and diagnosis, empathic understanding, and client-centered care.

Goals of Grief Counseling

Grief Counseling at South Hills Counseling addresses your specific concerns and aspirations.

Personalized Objectives

  • Processing the complex emotions that accompany loss

  • Finding healthy ways to maintain connection to what's been lost

  • Developing coping strategies for difficult grief anniversaries and triggers

  • Creating meaningful rituals to honor your loss

  • Rebuilding identity and purpose after significant life changes

  • Managing complicated grief symptoms

  • Reconnecting with sources of joy and meaning in life

Growth-Oriented Approach

Our therapy goes beyond grief management to foster comprehensive healing:

  • Focusing on personal growth and resilience through adversity

  • Building new meaning and purpose after loss

  • Enhancing self-awareness and emotional processing skills

  • Creating a new relationship with what has been lost

  • Developing deeper connections with remaining support systems

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

✔ Death of a loved one (spouse, child, parent, friend)

✔ Traumatic or sudden loss

✔ Pregnancy and infant loss

✔ Loss through divorce or relationship endings

✔ Loss of health or mobility

✔ Identity loss and major life changes

Our Approach to Grief Counseling

What You Might Be Experiencing

Grief is not something that you ever fully move forward from unchanged. You can, however, lessen the intensity of the pain and have the loss not come to dominate your daily living. For some people, the normal grieving process does not resolve on its own, leading to what's known as complicated grief. This type of grief refers to a persistent form of grieving or bereavement, lasting for one year or more.

When symptoms persist without improvement for an extended time period, they may qualify as complicated grief. Complicated grief may also interfere with your life and daily functioning.

Some symptoms of complicated grief include:

  • Intense and/or unrelenting emotional pain and sadness

  • Preoccupation with the loss

  • Feelings of hopelessness or emptiness

  • Avoidance of reminders of the loss

  • Detachment and isolation from friends, family, and support network

  • Difficulty engaging in happy memories of the lost person or time before the loss

  • Lack of desire to pursue previously enjoyed hobbies or activities

  • A reduced sense of identity

Understanding the Stages of Grief

While everyone is different, Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's model of grief can often be helpful as a way to understand the grieving process. This model includes five stages of grief that many people experience following a major loss:

  • Denial: Initial shock and disbelief about the loss

  • Anger: Feelings of frustration and powerlessness about the unfairness of the loss

  • Bargaining: Attempting to regain control through "what if" and "if only" statements

  • Depression: Deep sadness and withdrawal as the reality of the loss sets in

  • Acceptance: Gradually accepting the reality of the loss and finding a way forward

While these stages can serve as a general guideline, it's important to remember they are not always linear and that you may return to certain stages throughout your grieving process. When grieving, it's essential to be patient with yourself and understand that progress is not always straightforward.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • While grief is a natural response to loss, you might benefit from professional support if your grief feels overwhelming, persists without improvement for an extended period, or significantly interferes with your daily functioning. Signs that grief counseling might be helpful include inability to focus on anything but the loss, withdrawal from social activities, prolonged feelings of guilt or regret, persistent denial of the loss, or self-destructive behaviors. Remember that seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

  • No, there is no single "right way" to grieve. Grief is highly personal and unique to each individual. Cultural background, personality, relationship to what was lost, and previous experiences with loss all influence how someone grieves. Some people express grief openly, while others process it more privately. Some may need to talk about their loss frequently, while others find comfort in activities or rituals. Our therapists respect your unique grieving process and help you find healthy ways to cope that feel right for you.

  • There is no standard timeline for grief. The common saying that "grief comes in waves" often resonates with many people's experiences. While the acute pain may become less intense over time, anniversary dates, holidays, and significant life events may trigger grief responses years after a loss. Rather than "getting over" grief, most people find ways to integrate the loss into their lives and create a new normal. Grief counseling can help you navigate this process at your own pace.

  • Yes, grief can have significant physical effects. Common physical symptoms include fatigue, sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, reduced immunity, increased pain sensitivity, and exacerbation of existing health conditions. These physical manifestations are normal responses to profound loss. In therapy, we address both the emotional and physical aspects of grief, helping you develop self-care practices that support your overall wellbeing during this challenging time.

  • Supporting a grieving person involves being present without trying to "fix" their pain. Listen without judgment, acknowledge their loss, avoid platitudes like "they're in a better place," and offer specific practical help rather than saying "call if you need anything." Remember that grief doesn't follow a predictable timeline—continue checking in even months after the loss. If you're supporting someone through grief, we can provide guidance on how to be most helpful while also taking care of your own emotional needs.

Ready to Begin Your Healing Journey Today?

We look forward to supporting you on your journey toward healing, integration of your loss, and renewed meaning in life. The team at South Hills is here to support you through your grief with compassion and understanding!