Grief doesn’t follow a schedule, and it doesn’t ask permission. It can arrive after a death or after a loss. It can come in waves or settle in quietly and stay. However it shows up for you, you don’t have to carry it alone, and you don’t have to carry it in any particular way.
Grief isn’t only about death, and it isn’t only for the “big” losses. People come to us grieving:
- The death of someone they love
- A loss others don’t fully see: a pet, a pregnancy, a friendship, an estrangement
- The end of a relationship or a marriage
- A loss tied to identity, coming out, transition, or a family who couldn’t stay
- Anticipatory grief, the grieving that starts before a loss is complete
- A diagnosis, a capability, a future they thought they’d have
If it’s a loss to you, those feelings are valid.
If you would like therapy support, we are here to help. We’re right on the Lansing and East Lansing line, just minutes from MSU, and we see clients virtually across Michigan.
What grief can feel like
Grief looks different for everyone. Some of this may sound familiar:
- Waves of sadness that come without warning
- Feeling numb, or strangely fine, and wondering if something’s wrong with you0
- Exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix
- Trouble concentrating, or a fog that won’t lift
- Anger, guilt, or relief you didn’t expect, and aren’t sure what to do with
- Missing someone in your body, not just your mind
- Feeling like the world moved on while you’re still standing still
None of it means you’re grieving wrong. There’s no correct way to feel, and no timeline you’re supposed to be following.
Compounded loss
Grief is heavy on its own. It gets heavier when you’re already carrying the daily strain of moving through a world that wasn’t built with your wellness in mind. Many of the people we work with are grieving while also managing the heaviness and exhaustion of minority stress, which leads to mourning while depleted and trying to survive.
That plays out in many ways. A chosen-family member dies, and the loss is not treated as the heartbreak it is. A partner passes, and the relationship is questioned instead of honored. A non-supportive family member dies, and you find yourself grieving someone who was not safe enough for you to be open with.
Many of us have experienced a number of losses, too often and too young. You are not alone, and there is support waiting for you.
Treatment
Grief work here isn’t built on a single method. It’s an integrated approach, shaped to fit the person in front of us rather than a formula. A few of the ideas that guide it:
Room to grieve, and room to rest. You don’t have to be actively grieving every moment to be doing it right. Part of the work is learning to move between leaning into your grief and stepping back from it, giving yourself permission to do both.
The whole of it. Grief touches everything: your body, your relationships, your sense of who you are and what comes next. We make space for the full range of how loss lands, not just the parts that are easy to name.
Staying connected. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting, or letting go, or “moving on.” It often means finding new ways to stay in a relationship with the person you lost, carrying their memory forward and integrating it into the life you keep living.
Grief isn’t a problem to be solved or a condition to be fixed. It’s something to be supported through, at your pace.
Start therapy in just 3 easy steps!
- Click Request Appointment and complete the form.
- We will email you with your scheduled appointment details and other info the same day or the next day.
- Complete intake forms and attend your appointment!
*If you prefer to get started via phone, call us at 517-798-6745 and let us know you want to skip the form.
Insurance and fees
We work hard to make therapy as accessible as possible. We accept several insurance plans, including several Medicaid plans, and offer a grant to cover therapy as well.
Meet your future therapist
Research shows the single biggest predictor of whether therapy helps is the therapeutic relationship between the two of you. When you trust your therapist, feel safe with them, and agree on what you’re working toward together, therapy works better. Feeling heard, safe, and understood, including in your identity and culture, is what makes the hard work of therapy possible. We do our best to find you a great match, and your input matters.
Our team brings different specialties, styles, and lived experiences. Browse our team and use the filters to find your match.
Where we offer therapy
We offer in-person therapy in Lansing, MI, at our office inside Wild Ferns Wellness Center. Our office is located on the Lansing/East Lansing line and just minutes from MSU. There is a CATA bus stop a half block away from us. Our office is wheelchair accessible, and there is an elevator.
Prefer to meet from home? We offer online therapy across Michigan, so you can work with an identity-affirming therapist wherever you are in the state.
Crisis lines
If you’re in crisis or need support right now, you don’t have to wait for an appointment.
- Blackline 1-800-604-5841
- Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
- Trans Lifeline 1-877-565-8860
- Trevor Project: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text Start to 678-678
- Click here for crisis lines and warm lines whose protocols include not involving police
A note about calling 911
If you or someone else is in immediate danger and you need to call 911, please know that police are not trained to provide mental health care. For Black and Brown people, trans people, disabled people, and people in psychiatric crisis, a police response can make things more dangerous. If you can, ask a friend, neighbor, or family member to be there with you when they arrive.
Start therapy in just 3 easy steps!
We made the process as simple as possible, while still keeping your real needs and preferences in mind.
- Click Request Appointment and complete the form.
- Check your email. Within 2 days, we will send you a link to complete intake forms, your expected costs, your therapist match, and your scheduled appointment details.
- Complete your intake forms and attend your appointment!
Insurance and fees
We work hard to make therapy as accessible as possible. We accept several insurance plans, including several Medicaid plans, and offer a grant to cover therapy, as well.
Meet your future therapist
Research shows the single biggest predictor of whether therapy helps is the therapeutic relationship between the two of you. When you trust your therapist, feel safe with them, and agree on what you’re working toward together, therapy works better. Feeling heard, safe, and understood, including in your identity and culture, is what makes the hard work of therapy possible. We do our best to find you a great match, and your input matters.
Our team brings different specialties, styles, and lived experiences. Browse our team and use the filters to find your match.
Where we offer therapy
We offer in-person therapy in Lansing, MI, at our office inside Wild Ferns Wellness Center. Our office is located on the Lansing/East Lansing line and just minutes from MSU. There is a CATA bus stop a half block away from us. Our office is wheelchair accessible, and there is an elevator.
Prefer to meet from home? We offer online therapy across Michigan, so you can work with an identity-affirming therapist wherever you are in the state.
Crisis lines
If you’re in crisis or need support right now, you don’t have to wait for an appointment.
- Blackline 1-800-604-5841
- Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
- Trans Lifeline 1-877-565-8860
- Trevor Project: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text Start to 678-678
- Click here for crisis lines and warm lines whose protocols include not involving police
A note about calling 911
If you or someone else is in immediate danger and you need to call 911, please know that police are not trained to provide mental health care. For Black and Brown people, trans people, disabled people, and people in psychiatric crisis, a police response can make things more dangerous. If you can, ask a friend, neighbor, or family member to be there with you when they arrive.
Crisis lines
If you’re in crisis or need support right now, you don’t have to wait for an appointment.
- Blackline 1-800-604-5841
- Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988
- Trans Lifeline 1-877-565-8860
- Trevor Project: Call 1-866-488-7386 or text Start to 678-678
- Click here for crisis lines and warm lines whose protocols include not involving police
A note about calling 911
If you or someone else is in immediate danger and you need to call 911, please know that police are not trained to provide mental health care. For Black and Brown people, trans people, disabled people, and people in psychiatric crisis, a police response can make things more dangerous. If you can, ask a friend, neighbor, or family member to be there with you when they arrive.