Grief doesn't follow a timeline and it doesn't always look like crying. It can show up as rage, numbness, relief, guilt, or feeling completely fine one minute and devastated the next. However yours is showing up — it's valid. And you don't have to navigate it alone.
Grief is bigger than loss
Most people think of grief as something that follows a death. But grief shows up after divorces, estrangements, diagnoses, identity shifts, the end of a life you thought you were going to have. Ambiguous grief — mourning something or someone still living — can be some of the hardest to process because the world doesn't always recognize it as real loss. It is.
What grief can look like
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Sadness or numbness that isn't lifting with time
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Difficulty functioning at work, in relationships, or day to day
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Intense guilt, anger, or feeling stuck in the loss
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Intrusive memories or dreams you can't shake
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Isolating because it feels like nobody understands
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Grieving something others don't recognize as a real loss
Grief doesn't have a timeline. There's no right way to do it — but you don't have to do it alone.
Therapeutic approaches
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ACT — making room for grief without letting it consume everything
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CBT — addressing the thought patterns that complicate grief, like guilt and self-blame
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DBT — emotional regulation tools for when grief becomes overwhelming
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SFBT — identifying what forward movement looks like for you specifically
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Attachment-informed — understanding how your attachment history shapes how you grieve
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Polyvagal-informed — working with the way grief lives in the body, not just the mind
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Parts work — exploring the parts of you that are holding the loss
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Continuing bonds — maintaining a healthy relationship with what or who was lost
This is work I know well
Grief has been a central part of my clinical focus — not just loss of people, but loss of identity, relationships, and the futures we thought we were going to have. If you're ready to talk, I offer a free consultation. No pressure, no commitment. Just a conversation to see if we're a good fit. If it's not the right match, I'll help point you somewhere that is.
I understand the unique ways loss can impact each person, and I honor your story while working to provide the tools and understanding you need to heal.
Grief is also something I've studied and written about outside of the clinical hour. I take it seriously as a topic because I've seen how often people are told they should be over it by now — and how damaging that message is. There's no expiration date on loss.
Meet your therapist
Griffin Oakley, MSCP, NCC, LMHC, LPC
Grief is something I take seriously as a clinical specialty — not just loss of people, but loss of identity, relationships, and futures we thought we were going to have. I've studied it, written about it, and worked with it extensively in the clinical hour. I also understand ambiguous grief — the kind the world doesn't always recognize as real. I do. There's no expiration date on loss, and I won't treat it like there is.
