Grief: You’re Not Going Crazy, You’re Grieving
Therapy for Grief and Loss in Tampa, FL
What Is Grief, Really?
Grief is the deeply human response to loss — not just of a person, but of the life you had with them or thought you would have with them. While it’s most often tied to the death of a loved one, grief can also show up after divorce, illness, job loss, or major transitions. And no matter the cause, one truth remains:
Grief is not a problem to solve — it’s a process to move through.
Why Grief Feels So Overwhelming
Grief is complicated because it doesn’t stay in a single lane. It affects every part of your being:
🧠 Mentally: foggy thinking, memory lapses, intrusive thoughts
💔 Emotionally: sadness, anger, guilt, fear, relief — sometimes all in one hour
🩺 Physically: fatigue, sleep disruption, appetite changes, body aches
🌱 Spiritually: questioning your beliefs, purpose, or the “why” of it all
And let’s be real: our culture isn’t great at sitting with pain. We rush it, silence it, or try to outpace it. But grief doesn’t work on a schedule — and it refuses to be ignored.
The River of Grief: Let It Flow
Imagine grief as a river.
Sometimes it’s a river of tears, other times a river of rage or numb stillness.
You may feel like you’re drowning in it — or stuck behind a dam of unexpressed emotion.
The key is: keep it flowing.
Let the tears come. Let the words pour out — through writing, storytelling, or simply naming what hurts.
And move your body, even just a little. A short walk, a stretch, even dancing badly in your kitchen helps the grief move through, not get trapped inside.
Because when you block that river — when you stuff it down, numb out, or avoid it — the pressure builds. Unfelt grief doesn’t disappear. It shows up later as:
Chronic anxiety or depression
Unexplained health issues
Irritability, apathy, or emotional shutdown
Trouble in relationships
Let the river flow. You don’t have to swim it alone.
The (Not-So-Linear) Stages of Grief
You’ve likely heard of the five stages:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
Originally developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1969), these stages were meant to describe the experience of people facing terminal illness — not necessarily the grief of those left behind.
In reality, grief is messy. There is no checklist. No neat order.
You may feel acceptance one morning and raw anger by dinner. That’s not backsliding — that’s just grief doing what grief does.
So, What’s the Goal?
Not “getting over it.” Not “moving on.”
The goal is what researchers call integrated grief — where the pain of the loss is still there, but no longer overwhelms you. You begin to:
Carry the love without being consumed by the sorrow
Build a life that includes the loss, rather than avoids it
Find connection and meaning again
As David Kessler (2019) reminds us, “We don’t move on from grief — we move forward with it.”
Honoring the Person You Lost
A big part of healing is finding ways to remember and honor your person. Not to keep yourself stuck — but to keep their presence alive in a way that helps you accept the reality of their death.
Ways to honor them:
Attend or create a ceremony, ritual, or memorial — even small and personal
Share stories about them with others
Light a candle, plant a tree, wear their favorite color
Write them a letter — and then burn it, sending it into the ether
Keep a grief journal to process your memories and emotions privately
These acts help the brain and heart begin to integrate the loss into your life narrative (Neimeyer, 2001).
Tools for Grief
🖍 Art Therapy
Creative expression can be a powerful grief companion. Through collage, painting, or visual journaling, you give shape to what words sometimes can’t hold.
📓 Journaling
Writing can:
Help you make sense of chaotic thoughts
Offer a safe place to rage, remember, cry
Track the healing that may feel invisible in real time
🔥 Ritual Writing
Try writing a letter to your loved one. Say what was left unsaid. Then, safely burn it. The ritual itself helps release emotional energy and honors the connection that continues beyond words.
Everyone Grieves Differently
Your grief is not too big, too quiet, or too long.
There’s no universal timeline. Some people bounce between sadness and functionality, others find their way through at a steady pace. Both are normal.
What matters is that you give yourself the space to feel what needs to be felt.
When to Get Support
Grief is normal — but if it continues to impair your ability to function day-to-day, you may be dealing with complicated grief or clinical depression.
It’s time to seek support when:
Your feeling of numbness, hopelessness, and being emotionally frozen is not dissipating
You can’t eat, sleep, or concentrate for months after the loss
You isolate yourself from loved ones
You’re constantly replaying the death or feel stuck in guilt
You’ve lost all sense of purpose or desire to engage with life
Support groups, therapy, and even sharing your story with someone who understands can make a world of difference.
Grieving in Tampa? You Don’t Have to Go Through This Alone
Grief is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of love. And love is never tidy.
If you're navigating loss and want compassionate support from someone who gets it, I’m here to help.
👉 Contact me here to learn more about grief therapy or to schedule a session.
References
Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss. Scribner.
Kessler, D. (2019). Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Scribner.
Neimeyer, R. A. (2001). Meaning Reconstruction & the Experience of Loss. American Psychological Association.
