Prolonged Grief

Support for Prolonged Grief

Grief can affect people in many different ways, and there is no set timetable for how long it should last. For some people, however, the pain of a loss can remain especially intense or feel difficult to move around, even as time passes.

You may feel as though you are stuck in your grief, struggling to adjust to life after the loss, or finding that it continues to affect your relationships, daily life or sense of self.

How Prolonged Grief Can Feel

You may experience:

  • Intense sadness or longing

  • Difficulty accepting the loss

  • Feeling stuck or unable to move forward

  • Guilt, anger or regret

  • Avoiding reminders of the person or loss

  • Feeling overwhelmed by reminders or memories

  • Difficulty returning to everyday routines

  • Feeling disconnected from other people

  • Loss of meaning, identity or direction

  • Trouble imagining a future without the person

  • Ongoing distress that feels difficult to manage

There is no “right” way to grieve. People can experience grief very differently depending on the relationship, circumstances of the loss and what else is happening in their lives.

How Therapy May Support You

Therapy can provide a space to talk openly about your loss and the impact it has had on you.

Depending on your experience, therapy may support you to:

  • Process difficult emotions connected with the loss

  • Explore guilt, anger, regret or unanswered questions

  • Understand how grief is affecting different areas of your life

  • Find ways of staying connected to the person while adapting to life after the loss

  • Reconnect with relationships, routines and parts of yourself

  • Make sense of changes in identity or purpose

  • Develop ways of coping when grief feels particularly intense

Therapy is not about forgetting someone or “moving on.” It can help you find ways of carrying your grief while gradually making space for life around it.

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