Support for all the ways loss can reshape your story
Grief Counseling at New Chapter Therapy
Grief Comes in Many Forms
Grief isn’t only about death.
You might be grieving a person, a relationship, a dream, your health, a version of yourself, or a life you thought you’d be living by now. Maybe you feel devastated. Maybe you feel numb. Maybe you’re holding it together on the outside while quietly falling apart on the inside.
Whatever your grief looks like, you are not “too much,” and you are not behind.
After the Death of a Loved One
Loss of a partner, family member, friend, or mentor
Sudden and unexpected deaths
Loss after a long illness or caregiving season
You may feel waves of sorrow, anger, regret, or relief—and then guilt for feeling that relief. Therapy creates space for all of it.
Types of Grief I Support
Disenfranchised Grief
This is grief that often isn’t recognized or supported by others, such as:
Miscarriage, stillbirth, or fertility struggles
Pet loss
Loss of an ex-partner, situationships, or estranged relationships
Ending a relationship that others didn’t think was “serious.”
Hidden or private losses you haven’t told many people about
You might hear, “It wasn’t that big of a deal,” or “You should be over it by now.” In our work, we name and validate these losses instead of minimizing them.
Anticipatory Grief
A loved one has a serious or terminal illness
You’re waiting for a loss you know is coming
You’re trying to function while always “bracing for impact.” We’ll work on coping with the “in-between,” managing fear, and finding moments of connection and meaning even in a hard season.
Trauma & Grief
Some losses are traumatic—sudden, violent, or deeply overwhelming. Others stir up old trauma that was never fully processed. With a trauma-informed approach, we can:
Address both the trauma and the grief
Work with your nervous system so healing doesn’t feel re-traumatizing
Use tools like EMDR to help your brain and body process what happened
Non-Death Losses & Life Transitions
You may be grieving even if no one has died. For example:
Divorce or separation
Friendship breakups or family estrangement
Job loss, career changes, or retirement
Moving, leaving a community, or changing schools
Changes in faith, identity, or roles
Health changes, chronic illness, or disability
We’ll honor what you’ve lost and explore who you’re becoming in this new chapter.
Complicated or Prolonged Grief
Sometimes grief doesn’t soften over time. You might feel stuck, like life has been on pause since the loss. You may notice:
Intense longing that doesn’t ease
Difficulty imagining a future without the person or situation
Avoiding reminders of the loss or feeling consumed by them
Therapy can help you gently untangle where you’re stuck and begin to rebuild a life that honors your loss and makes room for you.
How Grief Therapy Can Help
Grief therapy at New Chapter Therapy is not about “getting over it.” It’s about learning to live with your loss in a way that feels more compassionate and sustainable.
Together, we can:
Make sense of your story – exploring what this loss means for you and how it fits into your life narrative
Create space for your emotions – anger, sadness, confusion, relief, guilt, numbness… all of it belongs
Support your body and nervous system – noticing where grief lives in your body and practicing ways to soothe and regulate
Develop coping tools for hard days – anniversaries, holidays, milestones, and everyday moments that hurt
Honor your connection to what you’ve lost – through rituals, letters, memories, or other meaningful practices
Reimagine your future – slowly and gently exploring what it means to move forward without leaving your person or experience behind
My Approach to Grief Counseling
My work is integrative and trauma-informed. That means I draw from several evidence-based approaches and tailor them to your needs, your pace, and your story.
Depending on what you’re walking through, we may use:
Narrative Therapy
exploring and rewriting the stories you’ve absorbed about loss, strength, and worth
Parts Work (IFS-Informed)
understanding the parts of you that are grieving, angry, protective, or numb, and helping them feel seen
EMDR
for losses that are tied to traumatic memories or moments that feel “stuck” in your body and mind
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
gently challenging thoughts like “I should be over this” or “It’s my fault”
DBT-Informed skills
building distress tolerance and emotion regulation for when grief feels overwhelming
Mind-body practices
grounding, breathwork, movement, and nervous system care
Creative options
Walk + Talk Therapy- Process while moving outdoors
Craft + Talk Therapy- for those who regulate better with something in thier hands
Journaling, letter writing, or memory projects
Above all, I aim to create a space where you don’t have to perform or protect anyone else’s feelings, where your grief is allowed to show up exactly as it is.
What to Expect in Grief Therapy
Before we meet
You’ll complete secure online paperwork so I can learn a bit about you and your history with loss. You’re always welcome to share as much, or as little, as feels safe at first.
In our First Session
We’ll talk about:
What brought you to therapy now
The loss (or losses) you’re holding
How grief is affecting you day to day
What you hope might feel different over time
There is no “right way” to tell your story. Tears, laughter, silence, or uncertainty are all welcome.
Ongoing Sessions
Over time, we’ll:
Build tools to help you get through the hardest moments
Gently explore the deeper layers of your grief at a pace that honors your nervous system
Find ways to stay connected to what you’ve lost, while also reconnecting with yourself
Notice and celebrate small signs of healing and resilience, even when the pain remains
Grief doesn’t mean you’ve failed at coping. It means you loved, hoped, or invested deeply, and something precious changed. Therapy can help you carry that truth with more support and less isolation.
Common Questions about Grief Therapy
Is my grief too small for therapy?
If it hurts, it matters. You don’t need a certain type of loss or a specific story to belong in therapy.
How long will grief last?
Grief doesn’t follow a neat timeline. It often changes shape over time. Our goal isn’t to “finish” grief, but to help it become more livable and less overwhelming.
What if I can’t talk about it yet?
We will move gently. You are always in control of what you share, and we can start by building safety, skills, and trust before diving into the details.
Ready to Begin a New Chapter in Your Grief Journey
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
In-person sessions available in Hendersonville and Nashville
Online therapy for adults anywhere in Tennessee
Your grief deserves a soft place to land.
Together, we can make room for your pain, honor what (or who) you’ve lost, and slowly begin to imagine what healing might look like for you.