Is it normal to feel numb rather than sad?

Yes. Numbness can be a common grief response, particularly early on, and can reflect the nervous system protecting you from overload. Therapy can help you process the loss gently over time.

How long does grief last?

There is no fixed timeline. Grief often changes shape over time, but it can reappear in waves. Therapy can be helpful if you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unable to function as you normally would.

What is “complicated grief”?

People use this term when grief remains intense and stuck over a long period, often involving persistent yearning, avoidance, difficulty accepting the loss, or feeling unable to re-engage with life. Therapy can help with integration without asking you to forget or “move on.”

What if I feel guilty or angry about the person who died?

This is more common than people realise, especially when relationships were complex. Therapy offers a safe space to work with mixed feelings and reduce self-judgement.

What if the loss was sudden or traumatic?

Grief can become intertwined with trauma responses such as intrusive images, panic, avoidance, or hypervigilance. Therapy can support both the trauma response and the grieving process, paced carefully.

Grief and Bereavement Therapy

Q: Do you offer grief therapy in London and online?

Yes. We offer grief and bereavement therapy in London and online across the UK.

Grief is the mind and body responding to loss. It can be heartbreaking, disorientating, and at times unreal. Some people feel intense sadness and longing. Others feel numb, spaced out, irritable, or unable to take in what has happened. There is no single “right” way to grieve, and grief rarely moves in a straight line.

Bereavement can change your inner world and your outer life. Even when others expect you to be “back to normal,” you may be carrying waves of emotion, exhaustion, and a sense that the world is permanently different.

At Hampstead Psychology, we offer grief and bereavement therapy in London and online across the UK. We provide a steady, compassionate space to process loss, make sense of what you’re carrying, and find a way forward that doesn’t erase what mattered.

This page is for information and does not replace a clini

When grief starts to feel overwhelming or stuck

You might recognise some of these experiences:

You feel shocked, numb, or detached, as though it hasn’t fully landed.
Grief comes in waves and can feel unpredictable and hard to manage.
You feel intense longing, sadness, anger, or guilt that doesn’t seem to ease.
You keep replaying moments, conversations, or the circumstances of the loss.
You struggle with sleep, appetite, concentration, or day-to-day functioning.
You feel isolated because others don’t understand, or they avoid the topic.
You feel pressure to “move on,” and it makes you feel worse.
You feel anxious about the future or your own safety after the loss.
You feel stuck in what-ifs, self-blame, or unfinished business.
Life feels pointless or directionless, and you don’t recognise yourself.

If this fits, it doesn’t mean you’re grieving “wrong.” Some losses are simply harder to integrate, and some circumstances make grief more complex. Therapy can help you process what happened and support you to carry grief differently over time.

How grief and bereavement can show up

Early grief: shock, numbness, and disruption

In the early stages, many people feel unreal, foggy, or emotionally shut down. This can be the nervous system protecting you from overload. Therapy can offer containment, support, and help you begin to process the reality of the loss at a pace you can tolerate.

Waves of emotion and longing

Grief often arrives in waves — moments of intensity followed by quieter periods, then returning again. This can be frightening, especially if you worry you’ll never feel stable. Therapy helps you understand the rhythm of grief and develop ways to ride the waves without being pulled under.

Guilt, anger, and complicated feelings

Many people experience guilt, anger, relief, or mixed feelings, especially if the relationship was complex. Grief can stir up old wounds, regrets, and “unfinished conversations.” Therapy helps you work with these emotions carefully and compassionately, without forcing closure.

Trauma-linked loss

Some bereavements are sudden, unexpected, or distressing, and grief can become intertwined with trauma responses such as intrusive images, panic, avoidance, or hypervigilance. Therapy helps you process both the loss and the nervous system impact, gently and safely.

Complicated grief and feeling stuck

Sometimes grief doesn’t soften with time. People can feel stuck in yearning, disbelief, avoidance, or constant mental replay. Therapy can support you to integrate the loss more fully, while maintaining a continuing bond and connection that feels meaningful rather than painful.

Related difficulties we often see alongside grief

Grief can affect sleep, concentration, appetite, and energy. Many people experience anxiety, low mood, panic symptoms, irritability, or a sense of emotional shutdown. Relationship strain is also common, especially when people grieve differently or when family dynamics are complicated.

Therapy takes the whole picture into account, while staying focused on what you need most right now.

What keeps grief feeling stuck?

Grief doesn’t need to be “fixed,” but it can become complicated when the mind and nervous system get trapped in certain loops.

Sometimes the mind protects you through avoidance — not talking about the person, avoiding reminders, staying busy, or emotionally shutting down. Sometimes it gets stuck in replay and self-blame, trying to find a reason, a mistake, or a different ending. Sometimes people feel they must hold onto pain to remain loyal, or they fear that feeling better means forgetting.

These patterns are understandable, but they can keep grief raw. Therapy helps you process the loss in a way that supports integration over time, without rushing you or asking you to “move on.”

How therapy for grief and bereavement helps

At Hampstead Psychology, we use approaches that are widely used in evidence-based psychological practice, and we tailor therapy to the kind of loss and the kind of grief you’re experiencing. Depending on your needs, this may include CBT, ACT, compassion-focused work, and trauma-informed approaches.

In practice, grief therapy often involves creating a safe space to speak openly about the person and the loss, working with guilt, anger, and complicated emotions, and supporting your nervous system as it adapts. We also help you find ways to live with grief that allow both connection and movement: remembering without being pulled into collapse, and rebuilding life without erasing love.

The aim isn’t to make grief disappear. It’s to help it become more bearable and less consuming, so you can live again while still honouring what mattered.

What to expect from sessions

We begin by understanding the loss, your relationship, the circumstances, and what grief has been like for you. We’ll explore what you’re carrying, what feels most painful or stuck, and what support you need.

Sessions are collaborative and paced. Some people want space to speak freely without feeling managed. Others want help with specific difficulties like intrusive memories, panic, guilt loops, or returning to work and life. We shape therapy around you, and we review progress together so the work stays grounded and supportive.

How long does therapy take?

This varies. Some people benefit from focused support during an acute bereavement period. Others need longer, especially after traumatic loss, repeated losses, complicated relationships, or when grief has remained stuck for months or years.

We review progress together so therapy stays purposeful and aligned with what you need.

Grief therapy in Hampstead and online

We offer grief and bereavement therapy in person in London and online across the UK. Many people prefer online sessions for convenience and privacy, and it can be very effective when you have a quiet space.

Take the next step

If grief has left you feeling overwhelmed, numb, stuck, or alone, you don’t have to carry it by yourself. With the right support, grief can become less consuming and more integrated, so life can begin to open again while still holding the connection that matters.

Contact Hampstead Psychology to enquire about grief and bereavement therapy in London or online.

Useful links: Depression Therapy, Anxiety Therapy, PTSD and Trauma, Stress and Burnout, Insomnia and Sleep Problems, Fees, Meet the Team, Contact.

Urgent Help

If you are worried about immediate risk to your safety, call 999 or go to A&E. If you need urgent support but it isn’t an emergency, contact NHS 111 or your GP. You can also contact Samaritans on 116 123 (24/7).

Meet The Team

At Hampstead Psychology, all of our psychologists have extensive training to doctoral level and decades of experience in their field of expertise. You will be matched with a psychologist that has the knowledge and skill to help you understand and overcome your problem - not just in the short term but for good.