Therapy for Grief and Loss
in Seattle, Washington State, Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, Spokane, Vancouver.
Rebuilding after loss can feel impossible
When someone important dies, the world doesn't stop.
Bills still need to be paid. Work still expects you to show up. Friends and family often return to their normal routines while you're left carrying a loss that has changed everything.
You may feel overwhelmed by sadness one moment and anger the next. You may find yourself replaying memories, struggling to concentrate, feeling disconnected from the people around you, or wondering how you're supposed to move forward when life feels permanently altered.
Grief can make you feel like a stranger to yourself.
Healing doesn't mean forgetting. It doesn't mean "getting over it." It means learning how to carry the loss while continuing to build a meaningful life.
If you're struggling with grief, loss, or a major life transition, I'd be honored to support you. I offer virtual grief therapy throughout Washington State and would be happy to schedule a free consultation to see if we're a good fit.
What is Grief Therapy?
Grief therapy helps people navigate the emotional, relational, and practical challenges that follow a significant loss.
Many people think grief therapy is simply talking about sadness. In reality, grief often involves a much wider range of experiences. Alongside sadness, people frequently encounter anger, guilt, regret, loneliness, anxiety, numbness, relief, confusion, love, longing, and even moments of joy.
Grief therapy is about understanding the story of your loss and the impact it has had on your life. Together, we'll explore:
Your relationship with the person, role, identity, or future that was lost
The emotional impact of the loss
How grief is affecting your relationships, work, and daily functioning
Ways to cope with overwhelming emotions
How to rebuild routines, meaning, and purpose
Who you are becoming in the aftermath of loss
Grief changes us. Therapy can help you understand those changes and move forward without leaving important parts of yourself behind.
Signs You May Be Struggling With Grief
While grief affects everyone differently, some common experiences include:
Persistent thoughts about the person who died
Difficulty accepting the reality of the loss
Feeling as though a part of yourself is missing
Intense sadness, anger, guilt, bitterness, or regret
Avoiding reminders of the loss
Feeling disconnected from others
Difficulty finding meaning or purpose in life
Struggling to participate in activities you once enjoyed
Trouble planning for the future
Problems concentrating or making decisions
Sleep disturbances or changes in appetite
Increased anxiety or emotional overwhelm
If several of these experiences resonate with you, grief therapy may help.
How does Grief Affect Your Life?
Emotional Impact:
Many people experience rapidly shifting emotions that can feel overwhelming and difficult to manage. Some days may feel relatively manageable, while others can feel almost impossible.
Physical Impact:
Grief affects the body as well as the mind. Many grieving individuals experience fatigue, sleep difficulties, digestive issues, headaches, muscle tension, increased inflammation, and lowered immune functioning.
Relationship Impact:
Loss often changes relationships. Friends and family may not understand your experience, support may fade over time, or conflict may emerge as people grieve in different ways.
Work and Daily Functioning:
Concentration, motivation, and productivity frequently decline after a significant loss. Tasks that once felt easy may suddenly require tremendous effort.
Identity Impact:
One of the most painful aspects of grief is the way it changes our sense of self. You may find yourself asking:
Who am I now?
How do I move forward?
What does my future look like?
How do I carry this loss with me?
These questions are a normal part of the grieving process.
How Grief Therapy Can Help
Grief therapy can help you:
Process painful emotions safely and effectively
Understand and make sense of your loss
Develop healthy coping strategies
Reduce anxiety, overwhelm, and emotional exhaustion
Strengthen relationships and social support
Reconnect with meaning and purpose
Navigate major life transitions
Build a future that honors both your loss and your continued growth
While grief may always remain part of your story, it does not have to define the rest of your life.
My Approach to Grief Therapy
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Grief Therapist, I use evidence-based approaches tailored to each person's unique experience. In general, our work follows three phases:
Emotional Stabilization: We begin by helping you feel more grounded and supported. This may include developing coping skills, creating structure, improving sleep, and managing overwhelming emotions.
Processing the Loss: Once stability has increased, we work to understand and process the loss itself. This often includes exploring memories, relationships, unfinished emotions, trauma, meaning, and the ways the loss has affected your life.
Rebuilding for the Future: The final phase focuses on creating a life that feels meaningful moving forward. Together, we explore identity, relationships, goals, values, and the future you want to build.
Depending on your needs, I may incorporate the following kinds of therapy:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): to strengthen emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. Learn More
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): to process traumatic aspects of a loss and reduce the intensity of painful memories. Learn More
Schema Therapy: to understand lifelong patterns, attachment experiences, and the personal meaning of the loss within the larger story of your life.
Mindfulness-Based Interventions: to increase awareness of thoughts, emotions, and bodily experiences while reducing emotional reactivity.
Gottman Method Interventions: to strengthen communication and navigate relationship challenges that often emerge during periods of grief and transition.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does Grief Therapy Take?
Every person's experience is different. The length of therapy depends on factors such as the nature of the loss, the presence of trauma, available support systems, and your overall emotional stability.
Clients experiencing traumatic, sudden, or highly destabilizing losses often benefit from longer-term work lasting nine months to a year or more. Others may find meaningful relief in a shorter period of time.
During our consultation, we can discuss what therapy may look like for your unique situation.
Is What I'm Experiencing Normal?
Most likely, yes.
Many grieving individuals worry that they are grieving "wrong" because their emotions feel unpredictable or because their grief doesn't match what others expect. Grief is highly individual, and there is no single correct way to experience it.
Can Therapy Help If the Loss Happened Years Ago?
Absolutely.
Many people seek grief therapy years—or even decades—after a loss occurred. Sometimes grief becomes easier to process once life has stabilized enough to address it. Therapy can be helpful whether your loss happened recently or long ago.
Do You Offer Virtual Therapy?
Yes. I currently provide virtual therapy throughout Washington State, allowing clients to access support from the comfort of their own homes.
Do You Work With Adults?
Yes. I work with adults ages 18 and older.
Do You Accept Insurance?
I am not paneled with insurance, but I am able to provide a superbill that may allow you to receive Out-of-Network Benefits. My rate is $150/ hour.
What If I'm Not Sure I Need Therapy?
That's completely okay.
A free consultation can help us determine whether therapy would be beneficial and whether we're a good fit to work together.
Why Work With Jordan Crosby, LMFT?
I've been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for over seven years and have spent my career helping people navigate difficult emotions, major life transitions, and periods of profound change.
I believe therapy should be both compassionate and practical. My style is warm, engaging, collaborative, and grounded in evidence-based treatment. I enjoy helping people better understand themselves, strengthen their relationships, build emotional resilience, and create meaningful futures.
In addition to my work as a therapist, I am a Certified Career Coach and previously worked in higher education. For more than a decade, I have helped individuals navigate transitions involving identity, purpose, education, work, relationships, and personal growth.
I am committed to providing affirming, inclusive care for people of all genders, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, and backgrounds.
Schedule a Free Consultation
You don't have to carry this alone.
If you're looking for grief therapy in Seattle or anywhere in Washington State, I'd be honored to learn more about your story and discuss how therapy may help.