Grief is not a single event with a fixed timeline. Bereavement is the form most people recognise, but loss takes many shapes — including separation and divorce, infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, and baby loss: losses that are not always acknowledged, or a hoped-for future that will not happen as expected. Pet loss — the death of an animal companion — is another grief that is often minimised by others but can be felt deeply. It can also follow the loss of health, redundancy, or the ending of a chapter of life you had counted on. Sometimes the loss is recent; sometimes it happened years ago and has never quite been fully lived through.
You may find yourself functioning on the surface while feeling numb, disconnected, or unexpectedly overwhelmed. Anniversaries, places, or ordinary moments can trigger a wave of feeling that seems to come from nowhere. Others may not know how to talk about it — or may expect you to be further along than you are.
When grief becomes stuck
There is no correct way to grieve. But when loss remains unprocessed — when there was no space to feel what happened, or when you had to stay strong for others — it can continue to affect mood, relationships and your sense of who you are.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy offers a steady, uninterrupted space to understand your particular relationship to what you have lost: what it meant to you, what it has taken away, and what you may still be carrying without fully knowing it.
Online grief therapy — how it works
I work online with adults across the UK, and in person in South London. For many people, being in their own space while talking about loss can feel safer than travelling to an unfamiliar room. Sessions are 50 minutes, held weekly.
Common questions
- There is no correct timeline. Therapy can help when loss continues to shape daily life — numbness that has not lifted, waves of feeling that still overwhelm, or a sense that others have moved on and you have not. It can also help when the loss was never fully acknowledged at the time.
- No. Grief follows many losses — divorce, infertility, miscarriage and baby loss, illness, redundancy, or the ending of a hoped-for future. Pet loss and other socially minimised losses are also legitimate reasons to seek support.
- Yes. Many people find it easier to talk about loss from their own space. Sessions are weekly and 50 minutes, online across the UK, with in-person sessions available in South London.
- It depends on what you have lost and what was never given space at the time. There is no schedule for finishing grief. Weekly ongoing sessions allow what was set aside to be lived through at a pace that feels bearable.