Grief, loss, and bereavement counseling in Denver, Colorado
You don’t have to deal with it alone.
Grief counseling in Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada
Grief is one of the most universal human experiences — and one of the most isolating. Whether you’ve lost a person, a relationship, a pregnancy, a job, a sense of safety, or a future you’d imagined, grief doesn’t follow a tidy timeline or a predictable set of stages. It arrives differently for everyone, and it often shows up in ways that feel confusing, shameful, or impossible to explain to people who haven’t been through it.
At My Denver Therapy, our grief counselors work with clients across Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada — and via telehealth throughout Colorado — who are navigating every kind of loss. We take a warm, non-pathologizing approach to grief: we don’t try to rush you through it or “fix” it. We help you find a way to carry it that doesn’t swallow your whole life.
Types of grief our Denver therapists commonly support include:
- Loss of a loved one — death of a parent, partner, sibling, child, or close friend
- Anticipatory grief — grieving before a loss occurs, such as during a terminal illness
- Disenfranchised grief — losses that others may not recognize or validate (pregnancy loss, pet loss, estrangement, loss of a relationship with an addicted loved one)
- Complicated grief (prolonged grief disorder) — when grief remains intense and impairing long after the loss
- Grief after divorce or relationship ending — often underestimated but deeply real
- Cumulative grief — multiple losses stacked close together
You don’t need to wait until grief becomes “bad enough” to reach out. Our therapists are here whenever you’re ready — including this week.
Benefits of grief counseling
Research consistently shows that grief counseling improves outcomes for people experiencing complicated, prolonged, or disenfranchised grief. At My Denver Therapy, our approach to grief counseling helps clients in meaningful, specific ways:
- Process emotions safely — Work through sadness, anger, guilt, relief, and numbness with a therapist trained to hold space for all of it, without judgment
- Understand your grief — Learn why grief shows up in your body and behavior in ways that may feel foreign or alarming — and why that’s normal
- Prevent complicated grief — Early support reduces the risk of grief becoming prolonged or debilitating, and helps distinguish normal grief from depression or PTSD
- Find meaning — Grief therapy grounded in meaning-making and continuing bonds theory helps you maintain connection to who or what you lost while moving forward
- Rebuild identity — Significant losses often shift who we are. Therapy helps you reconnect with yourself on the other side of loss
When should you start grief counseling? There’s no right or wrong time. Some people find therapy most helpful in the immediate aftermath of a loss, when the pain is acute and they need somewhere to put it. Others come months or years later, when they realize grief is still running in the background — affecting sleep, relationships, or their ability to feel joy.
You don’t need to be in crisis to come to grief counseling in Denver. Many of our clients simply want a dedicated space to grieve without worrying about burdening the people they love. Others are navigating losses that aren’t widely recognized — and need a therapist who understands that those losses are just as real.
If you’re unsure whether you’re “grieving enough” to reach out, you probably are. Our therapists at MDT meet you wherever you are in the process.
Symptoms of grief and loss
Grief is a natural response to loss — but it affects people in ways that can feel alarming, especially when they’re not recognized as grief. Common symptoms include both emotional and physical responses:
Emotional symptoms:
- Deep sadness, emptiness, or numbness
- Anger, irritability, or resentment (sometimes toward the person who died, or toward yourself)
- Guilt — replaying what you could have done differently
- Anxiety or a sense of dread about the future
- Difficulty feeling pleasure or joy
- Yearning, longing, or preoccupation with the person or thing lost
- Feeling like life has lost its meaning or purpose
Physical symptoms:
- Fatigue and low energy
- Changes in appetite or sleep
- Physical sensations of pain or tightness in the chest
- Weakened immune function
Behavioral symptoms:
- Withdrawing from friends, family, or activities
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
- Crying unexpectedly, or being unable to cry at all
- Avoiding reminders of the loss — or seeking them out compulsively
When grief symptoms are severe, persist longer than expected, or significantly impair daily functioning, this may indicate complicated grief (prolonged grief disorder) — a recognized clinical condition that responds well to specialized therapy. If this sounds familiar, our Denver grief counselors can help.
How to know when you need grief support
While all grief is valid, some signs suggest that professional support could make a meaningful difference:
- The intensity isn’t decreasing — Grief naturally ebbs and flows over time. If you’re many months out from a loss and it still feels as acute as it did in the beginning, a therapist can help.
- You’re struggling to function — If grief is affecting your work, your relationships, your sleep, or your ability to care for yourself, that’s a signal to reach out.
- You feel stuck or disconnected — Grief that leaves you feeling numb, hollow, or like you’re going through the motions deserves attention.
- You’re using substances to cope — Alcohol, medications, or other substances used to blunt grief pain can become their own problem quickly.
- Your grief isn’t being validated — If people in your life keep telling you to “move on” or don’t understand why you’re still hurting, a grief counselor can provide the non-judgmental space you deserve.
- You’re experiencing thoughts of self-harm — Grief can sometimes shade into despair. If you’re having thoughts of harming yourself, please reach out immediately — to us, or to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
My Denver Therapy has grief counselors available now in Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada, and via telehealth throughout Colorado. Appointments are often available this week.
Tips for coping with grief
Grief doesn’t follow a timeline, and there’s no shortcut through it. But these evidence-informed strategies can help you carry it more gently:
- Allow all of your feelings — Grief isn’t just sadness. Anger, relief, guilt, and even moments of laughter are all normal. Suppressing them tends to make them louder.
- Stay connected to people — Isolation amplifies grief. You don’t have to talk about it constantly — just being around people you trust helps.
- Maintain basic routines — Sleep, meals, and gentle movement provide structure when everything else feels chaotic.
- Create space for grief rituals — Memorials, journaling, returning to meaningful places — rituals help externalize and honor what’s internal.
- Be patient with yourself at milestones — Anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays can bring grief back intensely. Plan ahead and give yourself extra grace.
- Seek professional support early — Therapy doesn’t mean your grief is pathological. It means you want a skilled, steady presence alongside you in one of life’s hardest seasons.
Frequently asked questions about grief counseling in Denver:
How is grief counseling different from regular therapy? Grief counseling is tailored to the specific psychological and emotional process of loss. While general therapy can certainly address grief, specialized grief therapists draw on approaches like meaning-making therapy, continuing bonds theory, and EMDR for traumatic loss.
Does grief counseling work for pet loss? Yes. Pet loss is a real and often disenfranchised grief — meaning others may minimize it even when the pain is profound. Our Denver therapists take pet loss seriously.
Can grief counseling help with anticipatory grief? Absolutely. Grieving someone or something before the loss happens — during a terminal illness, for example — is one of the most exhausting forms of grief. Therapy during this period can be deeply supportive.
Is grief counseling covered by insurance? My Denver Therapy is a private-pay practice, meaning we don’t bill insurance directly. Many clients use out-of-network benefits. We’re happy to provide a superbill to help with reimbursement.
Other Specialties
Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.
Rachel Naomi Remen
Meet our therapists
As a therapist-owned practice, we care about helping you heal, grow, and thrive. We take a client-focused approach to counseling and approach each session with a commitment to your progress and growth.
Availability
We’re always accepting new clients at our conveniently located offices in Denver, Greenwood Village, Lone Tree, and Arvada. All of our therapists can meet with clients online.
We specialize in you
You are welcome here. Because we have a large team with a wide range of specialties and trainings, we work with clients of all ages, backgrounds, and life stages.
We can match you with a male or female therapist who matches your goals, location, and schedule. If you have a preference for gender, age, religious background, or a person with a specific type of training or life experience, we can match you with a therapist you feel comfortable with.
Trained in effective therapy modalities
To support your mental health journey, our team is trained in some of the most effective forms of therapy available today, including EMDR, Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, Brainspotting, CBT, DBT, and IFS.
Whether you’re looking for help with anxiety, depression, trauma, or want to better understand your relationship and attachment styles, we can help.
Insurance information
We’re out of network with insurance and Tricare and are unable to take Medicaid or Medicare.
Unlike many Denver therapy practices, we don’t charge separate intake or administration fees or charge more for your first session or specialized therapy methods like EMDR.
Get matched with a therapist
Contact us today, and one of our therapists will reach out to you directly, usually the same day.