Counselling for grief, loss and serious illness
When grief and loss become part of your story
Grief doesn’t only come after a death. It can arrive with a diagnosis, your own or someone you love. It can come with the slow changes that serious illness brings, the loss of what felt certain, of plans, of the person you were before, or of the future you had imagined.
It may also follow a bereavement, whether sudden or at the end of a long goodbye. Grief doesn’t follow a timetable, and it doesn’t always look the way people expect. It can arrive in waves, sometimes when you least anticipate it. It can feel raw and overwhelming, or strangely numb, or somewhere in between that’s hard to put into words.
The people around you may not always know what to say. Some will want to help you feel better, move forward, or find closure. They mean well. But grief isn’t something to be fixed or finished, and the pressure to be further along than you are can leave you feeling more alone, not less.
Here, there is no timetable. No expectation of where you should be or how you should feel. My therapy room is as often filled with laughter as it is with tears, and both are welcome. Whatever you are carrying, and however you are carrying it, there is space for it here.
Loss takes many forms
Grief doesn’t only follow a death, though it absolutely includes that. It can come with the end of a relationship, the loss of a role or identity, a significant change in health or function, or the quiet erosion that can come from years of caring for someone you love.
You might be living with anticipatory grief, holding the weight of a loss that hasn’t fully arrived yet, and finding that hard to make sense of or explain to others.
You might be experiencing what’s sometimes called disenfranchised grief, a loss that others don’t always recognise or name as grief. A miscarriage. An estrangement. The end of something that mattered deeply, even if it’s hard to put into words. These losses are real, and they deserve the same care and attention as any other.
Whatever your loss, you do not need to justify it or measure it against anyone else’s. It is enough that it hurts.
Why people often wait to seek support
Grief can be isolating. People sometimes come to counselling only after they’ve spent a long time trying to manage alone, or after the support of those around them has quietly withdrawn, because life has moved on for everyone else even when it hasn’t for them.
Some worry that talking about their loss will make it more present, or that they’ll fall apart. Others feel that needing support is a sign that they aren’t coping, when in fact it reflects how much they are carrying.
You don’t need to have reached a breaking point to deserve support. And you don’t need to be ready to feel better. Sometimes people come simply to have somewhere to put it all down for a while.
How I can help
I bring both professional training and direct experience to this work. I have supported people through bereavement, serious illness, and end of life, including in a hospice setting, and I have sat with many different kinds of grief, from the searing pain of sudden loss to the more complicated feelings that can follow a difficult relationship or a long goodbye.
I understand that grief is not something you move on from. But with time, and with the right support, it is possible to find a way to move forward, carrying what you love with you.
For those facing serious illness, whether your own or someone close to you, this isn’t only about preparing for loss. People who are seriously ill are, in so many ways, still getting on with living. There is space here for all of that, for the fear and the grief, but also for everything else that continues to matter.
I offer a calm, contained space where difficult things can be spoken, sat with, and gradually made more bearable. There is no pressure to arrive composed, or to leave with answers. Some things simply need to be witnessed.
Taking a first step
If you are grieving, or supporting someone who is, or facing something that feels too heavy to carry alone, you are welcome to get in touch. There is no obligation, and no need to have the words ready. We can find them together.
Make a start, get in touch
Taking the first step can feel like the hardest part. You don't need to have everything worked out or know exactly what to say. A short message is enough to begin.
Fill in the form and I'll be in touch within 48 hours.
