Grief can make everyday life feel heavy and uncertain. Getting help close to home can change how you cope.
You can find qualified therapists who focus on grief, anxiety, depression, life transitions, and relationships. Most sessions are available online, with in-person options in the Chicago area through Tides Mental Health.
If you need support now, Tides Mental Health offers adult grief and loss therapy both virtually and in-person in Chicago so you can start healing without long waits.\ This article will guide you through what grief therapy looks like, the types of approaches you might try, what to expect in sessions, and local resources to help you move forward.
Understanding Grief and Loss
Grief affects your thoughts, feelings, and daily routines. It can come from many kinds of loss and produce a wide range of reactions that you might not expect.
What Is Grief?
Grief is your emotional and physical response to losing someone or something important. It includes sadness, confusion, anger, and even relief.
Grief is not a single feeling or a fixed timeline. You may feel intense emotions one day and numbness the next.
Grief also shows up in your body. You might have trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, headaches, or difficulty concentrating.
These symptoms are common and do not mean something is wrong with you. Therapy can help you understand these reactions and find ways to cope.
Types of Loss
Loss can be obvious, like the death of a partner, parent, or friend. It can also be less visible, such as divorce, a job loss, infertility, a move, or the end of a relationship.
Ambiguous losses—like a loved one with dementia or someone who is missing—can feel especially unsettling because there is no clear closure. You might grieve multiple losses at once.
Practical losses matter too: loss of income, routine, or a role can affect your identity and daily life. Tides Mental Health offers adult-focused therapy that addresses these varied losses, with mostly virtual sessions and in-person care in the Chicago area.
Common Reactions to Grief
Emotional reactions often include deep sadness, guilt, anger, anxiety, and relief. These feelings can come in waves and may seem to return long after the loss.
You may also feel isolated or worry that others do not understand. Behavioral and cognitive reactions include withdrawing from friends, difficulty making decisions, forgetfulness, and preoccupation with memories.
Physical signs include fatigue, stomach problems, and changes in sleep. Therapy for grief and loss can help you build coping skills, manage anxiety or depression, and restore daily routines.
Tides Mental Health provides counseling for adults dealing with these reactions, offering virtual and Chicago-area in-person appointments.
Why Seek Therapy for Grief and Loss?
Grief can affect your sleep, work, relationships, and sense of safety. Getting focused support helps you manage intense emotions, rebuild daily routines, and find clear steps to cope.
Benefits of Grief Counseling
Grief counseling gives you tools to handle strong feelings like sadness, anger, guilt, or numbness. A therapist helps you name these emotions and teaches breathing, grounding, and sleep strategies to reduce panic and sleepless nights.
You learn practical ways to handle milestones — anniversaries, birthdays, or returning to work — so those days don’t derail your progress. Counseling also helps you keep important memories without being overwhelmed by them.
Therapy can improve your relationships. You practice ways to ask for support, set boundaries, and talk to family or a partner about your needs.
If you prefer remote sessions, Tides Mental Health offers virtual counseling for adults, with experienced therapists who focus on anxiety, depression, and life transitions.
When Professional Help Is Needed
Seek professional help if your grief lasts many months without easing or if it stops you from doing everyday tasks. Look for care when you have trouble sleeping, persistent panic, intrusive thoughts about the loss, or if you begin to avoid people and places you used to enjoy.
If grief leads to risky behavior, thoughts of harming yourself, or severe depression, contact a therapist immediately. Tides Mental Health provides mostly virtual sessions for adults and offers in-person appointments in Chicago.
A therapist can assess whether you benefit from short-term grief work, longer psychotherapy, or combined treatment for anxiety or depression.
Risks of Unprocessed Grief
Unprocessed grief can worsen anxiety and depression over time. It may lead to chronic sleep problems, trouble concentrating, or increased substance use as a coping method.
These patterns make daily tasks harder and can strain your relationships. Over time, unresolved grief can also affect your physical health.
You might see higher blood pressure, weakened immune response, or persistent fatigue. Getting timely therapy reduces these risks by teaching coping skills and creating a plan to reconnect with work, family, and routine activities.
Finding Therapy for Grief and Loss Near Me
You can find grief therapy that fits your schedule, location, and budget. Look for licensed clinicians who focus on adult grief, anxiety, depression, and family changes, and who offer both virtual and in-person sessions in the Chicago area.
How to Search for Local Therapists
Start with targeted searches: “grief therapist Chicago” or “bereavement counseling near me.” Check therapist profiles for licenses (LCSW, LPC, LMFT) and specific grief work.
Look for keywords like complicated grief, bereavement, trauma, and family or couples counseling. Use filters for insurance, sliding scale, and availability.
Read short bios to confirm the therapist treats adult grief and related issues such as depression and life transitions. Note whether they list virtual care; Tides Mental Health offers both virtual and Chicago-based in-person options you can choose.
Call or email two to three therapists to ask about approach, session length, and fees. Ask whether they work with families or couples if that applies to your situation.
Choosing the Right Therapist
Pick a therapist who clearly explains their methods and shows experience with grief complications. Ask about evidence-based approaches like narrative therapy, CBT for grief-related anxiety, or trauma-informed care.
A good therapist will describe how they measure progress and set short-term goals with you. Consider practical fit: appointment times, fee policies, and whether they accept your insurance.
Trust your first session reaction—do you feel heard and respected? If not, try another clinician.
Tides Mental Health offers introductory calls so you can assess fit before committing to sessions.
Virtual vs. In-Person Options
Decide based on your comfort and logistics. Virtual sessions make it easier to access care from home and keep consistency during busy weeks.
They work well for individual grief work, anxiety, and depression therapy. In-person sessions can help when you need stronger personal connection or family therapy; those are available in Chicago through Tides Mental Health.
Many clinicians now split their schedule, so you can mix virtual and in-person meetings. Check whether the therapist’s platform is secure and whether in-person locations are convenient and accessible.
Types of Therapy Approaches
You can use different therapy methods to process grief, manage anxiety or depression tied to loss, and rebuild daily routines. Some approaches focus on changing thoughts and behaviors, others on shared support, and some target complex or prolonged grief that disrupts your life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Grief
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps you identify unhelpful thoughts about the loss and test more balanced beliefs. In sessions, you and the therapist track triggers, notice avoidance, and practice small behavioral changes like re-establishing sleep routines or scheduling meaningful activities.
CBT uses tools such as thought records, exposure exercises for avoided situations, and problem-solving to reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms. This approach is practical and goal-oriented, so you can expect weekly skill practice between sessions.
Tides Mental Health offers CBT-focused grief work both virtually and in-person in the Chicago area. If your grief links strongly to anxiety, depression, or life changes, CBT can shorten intense emotional cycles and restore everyday functioning.
Group Therapy and Support Groups
Group therapy brings you together with others who face similar losses, under a licensed facilitator. You gain perspective from others, learn coping skills in a real social context, and practice expressing feelings in a safe setting.
Support groups often follow a semi-structured format: check-ins, a focused topic (like anniversaries or parenting after loss), and a skills segment (breathing, grounding). Groups reduce isolation and teach concrete strategies for managing stress, sleep problems, and relationship strains.
Tides Mental Health runs virtual group sessions and has in-person meetings in Chicago. Group work pairs well with individual therapy when you need both peer support and personalized treatment for anxiety or depression.
Complicated Grief Treatment
Complicated grief, also called prolonged grief disorder, occurs when you remain stuck in intense longing, intrusive memories, or severe avoidance months after a loss. Treatment targets both the persistent yearning and the behaviors that keep you from rebuilding life.
Therapists use structured grief-specific protocols that blend elements of CBT, exposure to loss reminders, and techniques to rebuild daily routines and social ties. Sessions often include memory work, revisiting the story of the loss in a controlled way, and planning gradual return to valued activities.
If your grief interferes with work, relationships, or basic self-care, seek a clinician experienced in complicated grief. Tides Mental Health provides specialized care virtually and at Chicago-area clinics, so you can get focused treatment whether you prefer telehealth or in-person sessions.
What to Expect in Grief Therapy
Grief therapy helps you name feelings, learn coping skills, and set clear steps toward daily functioning. You will meet a therapist who listens without judgment, offers practical tools, and helps you plan next steps for healing.
Initial Assessment Process
Your first session usually lasts 45–60 minutes and focuses on your story. Expect questions about who you lost, the timeline, your current symptoms (sleep, appetite, mood), and any medical or medication history.
The therapist will ask about your support network, daily routines, and whether you’ve had therapy before. You may complete brief questionnaires about depression, anxiety, or complicated grief to help the therapist measure where you are now.
This helps create a clear, written snapshot of your needs. The therapist will explain confidentiality and ask about safety, including any thoughts of self-harm.
If you prefer virtual sessions, most options are available by video; in-person care is available in the Chicago area. Tides Mental Health is one option you can choose for ongoing grief support.
Typical Therapy Sessions
Sessions often last 45–50 minutes and happen weekly or every other week at first. Early sessions focus on listening and normalizing your feelings.
The therapist uses active listening and may teach grounding skills to manage intense emotions during and after sessions. You can expect a mix of talk therapy and practical exercises.
Techniques may include cognitive strategies to address negative thoughts, behavioral plans to restore routines, and memory work to honor your loved one. Family or couples sessions may include communication skills and role-based support if your loss affected others.
Therapists will track progress with short measures and adjust focus if symptoms of anxiety or depression increase. Most clients use a blend of virtual and in-person appointments, depending on need and availability.
Setting Goals for Healing
You and the therapist will set specific, measurable goals that match your life. Goals often include reducing nightly panic, improving sleep by a set number of hours, returning to work or social activities, or resolving a particular regret tied to the loss.
Goals break down into short-term steps and longer milestones. Short steps might be practicing a grounding exercise three times a day or calling a friend twice weekly.
Longer milestones could be attending a family event or creating a ritual to remember the person. Your therapist reviews progress each month and adjusts goals if needed.
You keep a simple plan with clear actions and timelines so you know what to practice between sessions and when to seek extra support.
Additional Local Resources and Support
You can find places that offer group support, helplines for urgent help, and structured bereavement programs. Many options let you join online or meet in person in the Chicago area.
Community Grief Support Organizations
Local community organizations run peer-led and professionally guided groups that match specific losses like spouse, parent, or child. These groups often meet weekly or biweekly and offer both virtual and in-person sessions.
If you prefer more privacy, look for closed groups limited to a set number of members. Tides Mental Health offers adult-focused grief groups that address anxiety, depression, and life transitions tied to loss.
Most Tides sessions are virtual (about 60–70%), with in-person options in Chicago (about 30–40%). Ask about group size, facilitator credentials, meeting frequency, and any cost or sliding-scale options.
When you search, check whether groups are peer-led or led by licensed clinicians. Peer groups provide shared experience.
Clinician-led groups include coping skills, psychoeducation, and sometimes family or couples modules.
Crisis Helplines
Crisis helplines give immediate support if you feel overwhelmed, suicidal, or unable to keep yourself safe. Call or text the national suicide lifeline or your local crisis line for 24/7 help.
Trained responders can stay with you on the phone while you decide next steps. Tides Mental Health can help you connect to crisis resources and arrange same-day virtual support when available.
Keep emergency numbers and local hospital info handy. Tell someone you trust when you use a helpline so you have follow-up contact.
If language access or hearing support matters, ask helplines about translation services or text/relay options. Confirm whether the helpline will help coordinate local follow-up care or refer you to community-based crisis teams.
Bereavement Programs
Bereavement programs provide structured support over weeks or months after a death. They may include grief education, coping strategies, and sessions on managing relationships, finances, and legal tasks tied to loss.
Programs often offer separate tracks for complicated grief, caregiver loss, and loss from illness. Tides Mental Health runs bereavement counseling focused on adults and family dynamics, delivered mainly virtually with Chicago in-person offerings.
Expect an initial assessment, a tailored plan (individual or group), and periodic progress reviews. Insurance or sliding-scale fees may apply; ask about session length and expected program duration.
Look for programs that combine therapy with practical help, such as referrals to legal aid, financial counseling, or community case management.
Coping Strategies Outside of Therapy
These practical steps help reduce daily stress, manage intense feelings, and connect you with steady support. Use routines, breathing tools, and trusted people to lower anxiety, ease sadness, and handle big life changes.
Self-Care Techniques
Create a simple daily routine that gives you small wins. Schedule concrete tasks: wake at a set time, eat a balanced breakfast, take a 20–30 minute walk, and sleep by a consistent hour.
These habits help stabilize mood and energy. Pay attention to basic health actions.
Drink water, limit alcohol, and eat protein and vegetables to reduce mood swings. Track sleep and note patterns — poor sleep often makes grief feel worse.
Use small, doable activities to lift your day. Try 10 minutes of light stretching, a short hobby session, or a 15-minute call with a friend.
If you need more structure, consider Tides Mental Health for virtual or in-person options in Chicago to build a personalized self-care plan.
Mindfulness Practices
Practice short, focused breathing exercises when anxiety spikes. Try the 4-4-6 pattern: inhale 4 seconds, hold 4, exhale 6.
Repeat 4–6 times to lower heart rate and clear your mind. Use grounding to bring you back to the present.
Name five things you see, four you can touch, three you hear, two you smell, and one you taste. This technique reduces dissociation and panic.
Try guided mindfulness for 5–15 minutes daily. Use apps or a clinician from Tides Mental Health for sessions tailored to grief, anxiety, or depression.
Mindful journaling can also help: write one sentence about how you feel and one about what you did that helped today.
Creating a Support System
List specific people you can contact for different needs. For example: one friend for venting, a family member for practical help, and a neighbor for errands.
Put phone numbers in a visible place. Join a small support group or set a weekly check-in with someone who listens without judgment.
If in-person options fit you, Tides Mental Health offers Chicago-based sessions and virtual groups for adult grief and life transitions. Set boundaries and ask for what you need.
Say things like, “I need 30 minutes to talk,” or “Can you sit with me while I cry?” Clear requests help others help you.
Keep a short plan for crisis moments: who to call, what calms you, and where you feel safe.
Considerations for Diverse Populations
You may need different kinds of grief support depending on your background, age, and identity. Think about cultural practices, developmental needs, and identity-based challenges when choosing a therapist or support program.
Cultural Sensitivities in Grief Support
Respect for cultural rituals and language matters. Ask whether a therapist understands your faith traditions, funeral practices, and family roles.
If you prefer services in another language, request a clinician who speaks that language or uses trained interpreters. Look for cultural humility rather than assumptions.
A culturally humble therapist asks about your beliefs, listens without judgment, and adapts treatment—such as including family or community rituals in sessions. Tides Mental Health offers culturally informed care and can connect you to therapists who honor cultural and linguistic preferences.
Confirm a therapist’s experience with your community. Ask how they include cultural practices in therapy, and check whether virtual sessions can include family members across distances.
In-person care is available in the Chicago area if you want face-to-face support.
Support for Children and Adolescents
Children grieve differently from adults. Expect changes in behavior, school performance, sleep, and play rather than long explanations of feelings.
A clinician trained in child grief uses age-appropriate tools like play therapy, storytelling, and art to help your child express loss safely. When choosing help, ask about the clinician’s experience with bereaved children and teens, how they involve caregivers, and whether therapy includes school coordination.
If your child needs evening or virtual sessions, note that many clinicians offer 60–70% virtual appointments, which can fit school schedules. Tides Mental Health plans to expand child and adolescent services and can match you with current providers experienced in youth grief.
Prioritize a therapist who includes parents in planning and provides clear steps for supporting your child between sessions.
LGBTQ+ Grief Counseling
Grief for LGBTQ+ people can include loss of chosen family, rejection, or identity-specific stigma. Find a therapist who knows LGBTQ+ issues like family estrangement, bereavement after HIV-related deaths, or legal complications in partner recognition.
Ask about affirming training and lived-experience competence. Choose a clinician who will validate your identity and discuss how your community and safety affect grieving.
You may want a therapist who helps with coming-out concerns tied to loss, or who supports reconciling biological and chosen families. Virtual therapy can increase access to affirming clinicians if local options are limited.
Tides Mental Health lists affirming therapists and offers virtual and Chicago-area in-person care. Ask about confidentiality, pronoun use, and experience with LGBTQ+-specific grief to ensure respectful, effective support.
Moving Forward After Loss
Grief can feel heavy and confusing. You may struggle with sleep, focus, or daily tasks, and those reactions are normal.
You can get help that fits your needs. Tides Mental Health offers adult grief therapy that addresses anxiety, depression, and life transitions.
Most sessions are virtual (about 60–70%), with in-person options in the Chicago area for those who prefer face-to-face care.
Therapy helps you process feelings and rebuild routines. A therapist will listen, help you name emotions, and teach tools to manage waves of sadness or panic.
Work may include coping skills, memory rituals, and steps to reconnect with relationships.
You will move at your own pace. Some weeks feel better; others do not.
Expect short-term goals at first, then deeper work when you are ready.
Practical supports to ask for in sessions:
- Grounding and breathing techniques for intense moments
- Strategies to manage sleep and appetite changes
- Ways to communicate needs with family or partners
If you think you need more specialized care, talk with your therapist about expanding to couples or family sessions.
Tides Mental Health plans to add child and adolescent services later, so your whole family can find help when that option becomes available.