Grief is not a problem to be solved. It is what love looks like when the person, the relationship, the role, or the future is no longer there. Grief and loss therapy at Newmarket Therapy Centre offers a place where what you are carrying can finally be set down, looked at, and met with care — for as long as it takes.

Understanding Grief & Loss

Grief and loss therapy at Newmarket Therapy Centre
Grief and loss therapy at Newmarket Therapy Centre — in person and online across Ontario.

There is no timeline for grief, and no right way to do it. The expectation that grief follows neat stages — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance — is largely a misreading of the original research. In reality, grief moves in waves, doubles back, surprises you years later in moments you did not expect. It is not linear, and it is not something you ever fully 'get over.' What happens, with time and support, is that you begin to find a way to carry it that allows you to live again.

Grief also extends far beyond bereavement. The loss of a relationship, a career, a home, a community, a part of your identity, a future you had imagined — all of these are losses that the psyche has to grieve. Many people carry significant grief without recognising it as such, because no one died. The work is the same: making space for what was lost, and finding a way forward.

At Newmarket Therapy Centre, our therapists are experienced in supporting people through all forms of grief — fresh and ancient, acute and complicated, named and unspoken.

Universal
Everyone experiences significant loss in their lifetime — and yet very few people are taught how to grieve well
Non-Linear
Grief moves in waves and revisits us at unexpected times — there is no fixed timeline
15+
Master's-level therapists at Newmarket Therapy Centre — in-person and online across Ontario

Kinds of Grief We Work With

Bereavement

The death of a loved one — partner, parent, child, sibling, friend, or other significant relationship. Acute, anticipated, or long-ago losses that have never been fully grieved.

Anticipatory Grief

Grieving while the loss is still unfolding — when a loved one has a terminal illness, when a relationship is ending, when life is being reshaped by circumstances beyond your control.

Complicated Grief

Grief that has become stuck — that does not move, or that intrudes on daily life years after the loss in ways that feel out of proportion to the time that has passed.

Relationship Loss

The end of a marriage or significant relationship, estrangement from family, the gradual loss of a friendship — losses that often carry as much weight as bereavement.

Loss of Identity or Role

Retirement, illness or disability, becoming a parent, children leaving home, immigration — losses of identity, role, and the version of yourself you were before.

Disenfranchised Grief

Loss that is not socially recognised or supported — pregnancy loss, the death of a pet, the end of a complicated relationship, the loss of someone who was not legally or culturally yours to grieve.

Grief is the price of love. Therapy does not make grief go away — it helps you find a way to carry it that honours both the loss and the life that continues.

Newmarket Therapy Centre

Therapeutic Approaches

Our grief and loss therapists draw on a range of approaches — selected and combined based on the nature of your loss, where you are in the process, and what you need from the work.

Relational

Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT)

Grief sits at the level of primary emotion — and EFT helps access and process feelings that have been pushed aside, blocked, or never had space to surface. Particularly helpful for grief that has become numbed, complicated, or stuck.

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Trauma-Based

EMDR Therapy

For grief intertwined with trauma — sudden loss, violent loss, or loss carrying complicated relational threads — EMDR can help the nervous system process what was overwhelming at the time, so the loss can be grieved cleanly rather than continually re-triggered.

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Parts-Based

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Grief often involves multiple parts of the self — the part that misses, the part that is angry, the part that wants to move on, the part that is afraid to. IFS helps you understand and care for each of these parts, rather than fighting any of them.

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Body-Based

Somatic Therapy

Grief lives in the body — in the tightness in the chest, the heaviness, the disconnection from physical aliveness. Somatic approaches work directly with the body's experience of grief, helping the nervous system move through what it has been holding.

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What to Expect

Grief therapy at Newmarket Therapy Centre is unhurried and individually paced. Your therapist will not push you to feel anything you are not ready to feel — and will not impose a timeline on a process that has its own.

  • 01

    A free intake call with Susan

    Our Client Care Manager Susan listens to what is bringing you in, answers your questions, and personally matches you with the right grief therapist — clinically and as a person. No commitment.

  • 02

    Understanding your particular experience

    Your therapist takes genuine time to understand how grief is showing up in your life — in your body, your thinking, your relationships. Not a checklist. A real conversation.

  • 03

    Finding what is driving it

    Together you begin to explore what is underneath the presenting difficulty — the experiences, the patterns, the beliefs that have been quietly running the show. This is where real change begins.

  • 04

    Building something different

    Gradually, at your pace, therapy helps you move toward the relationships, feelings, and life you have been reaching for — with new tools, new awareness, and new ground to stand on.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I seek grief therapy?
There is no right answer — but if grief is affecting your daily life, your relationships, or your sense of being able to keep moving, that is enough. You do not have to wait until grief becomes 'complicated' to seek support.
How long does grief therapy take?
It varies enormously. Some people work with grief in focused, time-limited ways. Others come to therapy intermittently across years, as different waves of grief surface. There is no fixed timeline — and your therapist will follow your pace, not impose one.
Can grief therapy help if my loss happened years ago?
Yes — and often very powerfully. Long-ago losses that were never fully grieved often continue to shape life in subtle ways. Grief work years or decades after a loss can be genuinely transformative.
Is grief the same as depression?
They overlap but are not the same. Grief is the response to a specific loss and tends to come in waves with periods of normal functioning. Depression is more pervasive and stable, often without a clear precipitant. Sometimes grief becomes complicated and develops into depression — your therapist will help you understand what you are experiencing.
What if I have lost someone in difficult circumstances — suicide, accident, violence?
Sudden, traumatic, or stigmatised losses often carry trauma alongside the grief — and require specific therapeutic support. Our therapists trained in trauma work are able to support both dimensions simultaneously.
Can I do grief therapy online?
Yes. Online grief therapy is available to anyone in Ontario and is equally effective as in-person work. For many people, the privacy and comfort of their own space is genuinely supportive of grief work.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Our intake team will match you with the right grief and loss therapist at Newmarket Therapy Centre. No commitment required — just a conversation, when you are ready.

Contact Our Intake Department Meet Our Therapists