Grief Therapy
on Long Island

“Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls your life.”

— Akshay Dubey

Grief Therapy

People lose loved ones every day; death is a natural part of life. However, we are not always prepared to deal with losing a loved one, or with the intensity of grief and its ability to take over our lives. By engaging in grief therapy, you’ll have the time and space to talk through your loss and your therapist will help you develop coping skills to manage your grief in the long term.

 
Young Girl Upset Sitting on the Floor.

The Five Stages of Grief

Most grief therapy is based on Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ landmark identification of the five stages of grief: 

  • Denial

  • Anger

  • Bargaining

  • Depression

  • Acceptance


This model works to analyze the phases a person goes through when encountered with grief. It’s important to remember that these are not written in stone; some patients may discover that they return to certain phases at different times, or that they enter a phase out of order. Rather than to follow these stages as a one-way formula, the idea is simply to keep them in mind when talking about and understanding your own experience of grief.

 
Couple Hugging - Grief Therapy in Long Island

The Four Tasks of Mourning

Another popular model when looking at grief through therapy is J. W. Worden’s “Four Tasks of Mourning”:

  • To accept the reality of the loss

  • To work through the pain of grief

  • To adjust to life without the deceased

  • To maintain a connection to the deceased while moving on with life


Here, the objective is not to identify the phases of grief a person may be going through, but rather to point toward the goals a person with grief should aim toward in order to reach a stable mental space. 

FAQs

Somebody close to me died. How can you help me?

We understand that therapy might not seem like a solution when you have lost someone you love. Many of us who have felt intense grief often feel as though nothing can change the way we feel. However, talking through a traumatic event like loss is incredibly beneficial, especially when you’re doing it with a professional.

How long do I need to attend therapy?

Therapy is your journey—your therapist is there to help guide you through the grieving process, but ultimately the length and frequency of your therapy is up to you. Ideally, you’d be staying with your therapist until you’ve developed a trusting relationship and have experienced some improvement in your symptoms or feel confident in your learned coping skills.

What can I expect from grief counseling?

You can expect the same dedication and space we offer in individual therapy but with more attention to the loss you have encountered. We will talk about anything that may be bothering you, remember the good times you had with your loved one, honor their memory, and create opportunities to learn coping skills that will help you manage your grief in the long run.

What types of situations do you address in grief therapy?

Loss can manifest itself in many different situations. The most common is losing a loved one, but people often experience grief when someone close to them develops dementia or another mind-altering disorder. People may experience grief when a pet dies, or adopted children might feel a sense of grief for the “loss” of their biological parents. Grief is a complicated emotion, and we treat it with the utmost respect and seriousness in order to recognize its significance on someone’s life.