Grief & Loss Therapy
Aspen Therapy offers grief and loss therapy in San Diego and online throughout California. We work with teens, adults, couples, and families as they live with loss.
Grief doesn’t follow a schedule, and it doesn’t always look the way people expect. We offer a steady space to feel what you feel, remember who or what you’ve lost, and find your way forward at your own pace.
Who We Work With:
Some people come to us soon after a loss. Others come months or years later, when grief returns or when they realize they never had room to grieve. There’s no wrong time to reach out.
People often come to us for support with:
The death of a parent, partner, child, sibling, or friend
Sudden, traumatic, or unexpected loss
Loss after a long illness, or caregiving and anticipatory grief
Pregnancy loss, infertility, and stillbirth
The death of a pet
Grief that feels stuck, delayed, or hard to name
Complicated relationships with the person who died
Estrangement, divorce, or the end of a relationship
Losses that others don’t always recognize, like a chosen family member or an ex
Loss of health, identity, a career, or the future you pictured
Anniversaries, holidays, and other hard dates
Supporting a child or teen who is grieving
When grief is complicated:
Not every loss comes with simple feelings. You might feel relief alongside sadness, anger at someone you love, or guilt over things left unsaid. Some relationships were painful, and grieving them means grieving what you never had. These feelings are normal, and therapy is a place to hold all of them without judgment.
Grief that others don’t see.
Some losses don’t get casseroles or time off work. Pregnancy loss, the death of a pet, estrangement from family, or the loss of a chosen family member or partner others didn’t know about can leave you grieving alone. We take every loss seriously, whether or not the world around you does.
Grief in families.
Everyone in a family grieves differently, and that can lead to distance or conflict right when you need each other most. We work with couples and families to understand each person’s way of grieving and to find ways to support one another. We also help parents talk with children and teens about loss in ways that fit their age.
Related pages: [Trauma & Attachment Therapy], [Family Therapy], [Couples Therapy & Marriage Counseling], [Teen & Young Adult Therapy]
How We Work:
We don’t believe grief is something to get over or move through in stages. Many people find healing in staying connected to who they lost while building a life that holds both the loss and what comes next. You’re the expert on your own grief, and we follow your lead.
We draw from several approaches, chosen to fit you. In practice, that looks like:
Attachment-focused therapy: understanding how loss affects your sense of safety and connection, and how your history with closeness and separation shapes the way you grieve.
Internal Family Systems (IFS): making room for the different parts of you that hold grief, guilt, anger, or numbness, so each can be heard instead of pushed away.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): practical tools for sleep, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and getting through hard days and dates.
Narrative therapy: telling the story of your loss and your relationship in your own words, and finding meaning on your own terms.
Insight-oriented therapy: exploring how this loss connects to earlier experiences and relationships, so you can understand why it hits the way it does and what it’s asking of you.
Our Therapists Specializing In LGBTQ+ & Gender Affirming Care:
Frequently Asked Questions
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You don’t need a reason beyond wanting support. Many people reach out when grief feels overwhelming, isolating, or stuck, or when it affects sleep, work, relationships, or daily life for a long stretch. Others simply want a place to talk where they don’t have to protect anyone else’s feelings.
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No. Grief can resurface at milestones, with a new loss, or when life slows down enough to feel it. Past losses are welcome here.
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Yes. We see teens and young adults individually, and we offer family sessions and guidance for parents supporting a grieving child.
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Yes. We offer secure online sessions to anyone located in California, and in-person sessions at our San Diego office.
