Pergola
For what's missing, and the space it left

Therapy for Grief

Grief doesn't move in stages, in order, or on anyone's timeline. It shows up sideways — in the second year more than the first, in a song on the radio, in the quiet after the casseroles stop coming. It can be the grief everyone recognizes (a parent, a partner, a friend) or the kind no one else seems to count (a pet, a miscarriage, an estrangement, a version of yourself you had to give up).

The therapists on this page work with the full range. Some are trained in specific grief modalities — complicated grief therapy, meaning reconstruction, continuing bonds approaches. Many draw from relational and somatic work, because grief lives in the body as much as it does in the story. All of them are equipped to sit with you in a loss that doesn't have a tidy ending.

Grief therapy isn't about "moving on." It's about learning to carry what happened in a way that lets the rest of your life keep being yours.

1 therapist offering grief therapy
Hannah Weiss, LMFT, therapist in Los Angeles
Hannah Weiss, LMFT
Santa Monica

Postpartum, grief, and the seasons of motherhood

PostpartumGriefDepression
Accepting new clients$230/session

Common questions

When is it time to see a therapist about grief?+
There's no right time, and you don't need to wait until you're "stuck." Some people come in the first weeks of a loss because they want a steady presence; some come a year later because the fog is starting to lift and the actual feelings are arriving; some come decades later because something unexpectedly reopened the wound. All of those are valid times to start.
What's the difference between normal grief and complicated grief?+
Grief itself isn't pathological — it's a normal response to loss, and there's a huge range in how it looks. What therapists call "complicated grief" (or prolonged grief disorder) is when, months or years later, the intensity isn't lessening, daily functioning is significantly impaired, and the grief feels stuck. If that's where you are, it's treatable, and the therapists here can help.
Do I need to have lost a person to do grief therapy?+
No. Disenfranchised grief — the griefs that society doesn't fully recognize — is a real and valid reason to come to therapy. Pet loss, pregnancy loss, ambiguous loss (like dementia or estrangement), the loss of a future you were counting on, job loss, diagnosis grief. Any of these are welcome here.
Will talking about my loss make the grief worse?+
It can feel harder in the short term — but for most people, talking with someone trained to hold grief makes the feeling move, rather than stay stuck. A good grief therapist paces the work so you're not flooded. Nothing gets opened up faster than your system can handle.
How long does grief therapy take?+
There's no fixed timeline. Some people do 8–12 sessions of focused work around a specific loss and feel more grounded. Others stay longer, especially for complicated grief, loss tangled up with trauma, or cumulative losses. Your therapist will check in regularly on how the work is moving and what you need.

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