Your Path Through Transition

Grief & Bereavement Counselling

Grief can change the ground beneath you.

Whether you are mourning the death of someone close, living alongside serious illness, grieving a beloved pet, or facing a life change you didn’t choose, loss can quietly reshape how you experience yourself and the world.

I offer grief counselling in Bath and online for adults who want a steady, thoughtful space to explore what has changed, and what still matters.

Grief is not something to fix.
It is something to be met.

Grief Is Not Only About Death

When people hear “bereavement counselling,” they often think only of funerals and recent deaths. But grief takes many forms.

You might be grieving:

• The death of a parent, partner, sibling, child, friend, or colleague

• Pet loss — the death of an animal companion who was family

• Anticipatory grief when someone you love is seriously ill

• A miscarriage or fertility struggles

• The end of a relationship or marriage

• The loss of health, mobility, or physical independence

• Redundancy, retirement, or a change in role

• Migration and leaving home or country

• A shift in identity — becoming a carer, no longer being a partner, adjusting to an “empty nest”

• Estrangement from family

• Losses that feel invisible or unacknowledged by others

Some losses are publicly recognised.
Others are carried quietly, without ceremony or support.

All forms of grief are valid.

When Grief Feels Overwhelming

Grief rarely follows a clear path. It can feel steady one day and destabilising the next.

You might notice:

• Sudden waves of sadness or anxiety

• Irritability or unexpected anger

• Exhaustion or difficulty concentrating

• Guilt about what you did, or didn’t do

• Relief mixed with shame

• A sense of disbelief

• Feelings of isolation, even when surrounded by others

• A sense that you have changed in ways you can’t yet explain

Sometimes grief arrives immediately.
Sometimes it surfaces months or years later, when life has resumed, and others expect you to have “moved on.”

You may appear to be coping well while struggling internally.
You may feel stuck between honouring what was and continuing with what is.

Grief counselling offers space to speak honestly about these experiences without pressure to tidy them up or find meaning too quickly.

Sudden Diagnosis, Chronic or Terminal Illness

A serious diagnosis can change life overnight.

Whether it is your own illness or someone else’s, the moment of diagnosis can bring shock, fear, anger, disbelief, or a strange sense of unreality. Even when symptoms have been present for some time, having them named can feel like a dividing line — life before and life after.

Chronic illness can bring ongoing losses:
energy, independence, certainty, plans, and aspects of identity.

Terminal illness can bring waves of anticipatory grief, difficult decisions, and conversations you may not feel ready to have.

You might be:

• Struggling to process what this means

• Feeling pressure to “stay positive”

• Managing practical realities while emotions remain unspoken

• Experiencing changes in your relationships

• Grieving the future you imagined

• Feeling isolated in ways that are hard to explain

Illness often carries invisible grief — not only fear of death, but grief for the life you expected to live.

Therapy offers space to acknowledge both what is happening medically and what is happening emotionally. A place where you do not have to minimise, reframe, or be strong for others.

There may not be clear answers. But there can be steadiness, honesty, and room to speak about what feels most real.

Anticipatory Grief and Serious Illness

Not all grief begins after death.

If someone in your life is living with a life‑limiting illness, you may already be grieving — the person as they were, the future you imagined, or the sense of certainty you once held.

Anticipatory grief can be confusing and isolating.

You might be:

• Supporting others while neglecting your own feelings

• Managing practical responsibilities while carrying fear

• Feeling guilty for imagining life after their death

• Experiencing moments of relief alongside sorrow

Therapy can offer a place to pause in the midst of uncertainty — somewhere you do not have to be the strong one.

Pet Loss Counselling

The death of a pet can be devastating.

Animal companions are often sources of daily comfort, routine, and unconditional presence. Their loss can leave a silence that others may not fully understand.

If you are grieving a pet, you deserve support.
Your bond mattered and still matters.

Identity Loss and Life Transitions

Grief is not only about who or what has gone.
It is also about who you are now.

After a loss, many people find themselves asking:

• Who am I without this relationship or role?

• Where do I belong now?

• How do I carry this forward without being defined by it?

• How do I live well while still missing what was?

Loss can reshape identity, relationships, and your sense of direction. These questions do not require quick answers. They require careful attention and time.