IN-PERSON THERAPY IN MELBOURNE, AND ONLINE ACROSS AUST, NZ, CA & US (PT/EST)
Grief & Loss
Helping you walk alongside your sorrow with care, so its weight can be held, your inner strength can grow, and you can engage with yourself, others and life with renewed depth and aliveness.
Embrace your grief,
for there your soul will grow.
You’ve experienced loss, and your heart is carrying more than you can put into words. It may be the ending of a relationship, the death of someone you love, or the pain of what has been missing or unacknowledged in your life.
Grief can arrive acutely, destabilising the ground beneath your feet, or it can linger in the background, always with you, shaping your days and your sense of yourself.
It is one of the most profound and potent experiences we move through as human beings.. touching the body, heart and mind, bringing many moods and textures; sorrow, anger, confusion, numbing, longing or deep exhaustion. Some days it can be overwhelming, and others it can simply sit gently alongside you. Either way its job is to take us beneath the surface of our lives, into the depths of our humanity and connection with our soul.
Many of us try to push grief aside, to move on or keep functioning as if nothing has shifted, doing what we can to fill the void. But grief is not something to fix. It is a companion, a teacher, and a doorway into the parts of ourselves that need to be seen, held and felt. Asking us to look directly at ourselves and the world as it is, and not turn away.
In therapy with me, grief is welcomed, honoured and respected. It is treated as something sacred. In fact, much of the work in therapy is directed at meeting unattended grief. There is space for it to be expressed, witnessed and gently processed. You are invited to bring the fullness of your experience; the sorrow, the love, the anger and the silence, without judgment or pressure.
To walk with grief is an act of devotion towards ourselves rooted in love and compassion, and if we allow it, it remakes us, deepening and opening us to the fullness of life, love and soul.
Grief is the body’s language of love. To honour it is to honour yourself, your losses, and the life you carry within you.
Grief touches every layer of our lives; emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual. You might notice:
Waves of sadness, longing or heartbreak
Anger, guilt, or unresolved questions
Numbness, disconnection or a sense of unreality
Anxiety, overwhelm or difficulty coping with daily life
Changes in sleep, energy or concentration
Feeling life has lost meaning or direction
Feeling alone in your grief or misunderstood by others
Grief can also stir old wounds, unresolved emotions or fears that were never fully processed. This can make the grieving process feel heavier, more complex, or even overwhelming.
Supporting you with a gentle and embodied approach to grief.
Working with grief requires holding, not fixing;
Grief is not something to get over. It is a living process that asks to be held, witnessed and integrated at a pace your body and soul can sustain. In our work together, grief is approached with care, respect and presence. I use the following approaches in my grief care;
-
Grief lives in the body as much as in the heart. In fact, your body and nervous system capacity determines how well you are able to hold your grief, or whether you have to turn away. Somatic work helps you grow your capacity to hold; to tend to, to witness, experience and stay with, instead of turning away. It offers skills so that you can remain present, to your true inner experience.
-
Loss often activates many inner parts; devastated, angry, abandoned, numb or protective. We work with these parts gently, helping them feel seen, held and supported so they no longer carry the weight alone.
-
Some aspects of grief cannot be named. Creative expression through art, movement or writing allows feelings, memories and meaning to move beyond words, opening a path for grief to be felt and integrated.
-
Mindfulness helps cultivate steadiness amidst grief. By gently bringing attention to the present moment, to your body, your sensations and emotions, you can grow the capacity to meet waves of emotion without becoming overwhelmed, whilst nurturing compassion for yourself and the process.
How this work can help:
Through a somatic, trauma-informed approach, we focus on helping you:
Make space for all the emotions that arise with loss
Process overwhelming feelings safely and at your own pace
Build resilience to navigate the intensity of grief
Understand and care for the parts of you activated by loss
Express grief in ways that go beyond words
Find moments of steadiness and presence amidst the pain
Honour your relationship with what has been lost
Be witnessed and held in your grief
Gradually integrate loss into the ongoing story of your life
Healing does not mean forgetting or moving on… It means learning to carry grief tenderly, allowing it to teach, transform and deepen your capacity for connection, presence and love.
Sitting with grief is an act of devotion; to your heart, your soul, and the life that continues to unfold through loss.
Together we can stay present with grief, nurturing your heart, body, and soul as you move forward.
-
Grief therapy offers a safe, compassionate space to explore and process all the aspects of your loss. It is not about getting over your grief but about learning to be with it, understand how it lives in your body, mind and emotions, and integrate it into your life in a way that supports a deepening connection to yourself.
-
There is no set timeline. Grief is a personal process and unfolds differently for everyone. There may be periods of intensity that require lots of work, while other times are quieter. Therapy helps you navigate this journey at a pace that feels safe, supporting your nervous system, emotions and inner parts along the way.
-
Each person is different. Some grief cannot be put into words, and that’s where creative expression and embodied work are invaluable. Art, movement, writing or somatic practices can help you release and process grief in ways that go beyond language. Therapy supports both verbal and non-verbal ways of understanding and carrying loss.
-
Yes. Grief often reactivates past losses, childhood wounds, or unprocessed experiences. Addressing both present and past grief can release long-held emotions, reduce patterns of avoidance, and support a deeper sense of healing, presence, and emotional freedom.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Integrative somatic therapy combines mindfulness, parts work, creative/expressive practices, somatic inquiry and numerous practices drawn from timeless wisdom traditions, with body-centred techniques to address trauma, unresolved emotions, and relational patterns. It works with your body and nervous system, not just your thoughts, helping you process emotions in real time, release old tension, and integrate new ways of being in relationships, and with yourself.
-
A typical session blends a very small amount of conversation with mindfulness practices to connect you to your body and sensations, somatic and trauma-informed inquiry to connect to your deeper parts of you and your patterns, and embodied processing of emotions and sensations to release anything that no longer serves you.
-
Getting started is simple. We begin with a consultation to explore your current challenges, goals, and what you want to gain from therapy. From there, we develop a plan tailored to your needs, pace, and readiness; whether that’s weekly or fortnightly sessions, an intensive, or a combination of approaches.