Home / Adult Counselling / Grief and Loss
Counselling for Grief and Loss
Grief is not only about death. It follows a separation, an illness, a job, a role you loved, a pet. However it came, if you are carrying it mostly alone, you can talk here.
There is no correct order to grief and no deadline for it. The prayers finish, relatives go home, and everyone expects you to be back to normal. That is often when it gets hardest. Sessions are one to one, in person in Mumbai or online, for as long or as short as you need.
- Private, one to one
- In person at our Mumbai centres, or online
- Your rituals and beliefs stay yours
Grief Or Something More?
Grief has no timetable. This is a rough guide, not a test.
Grief
What it feels like
Waves of sadness, missing the person, mixed with ordinary moments
Over time
Still painful, but slowly easier to carry
What helps
Time, rituals, people who let you talk about them
Grief that is stuck
What it feels like
Constant numbness, guilt or longing that crowds out everything else
Over time
Not easing many months on; daily life stays on hold
What helps
Grief counselling, and support for low mood if it has set in
Get help now
- Thoughts of ending your life or wanting to join the person who died
- Feeling you cannot keep yourself safe
- Not eating or sleeping for days
Any of these needs urgent help, now. Call 112 or Tele-MANAS on 14416, or go to the nearest hospital emergency.
What We Help With
Pick what feels closest to your situation. Not sure which one? That is fine, we can work it out in the first conversation.
Death of a parent, partner or close family member
The loss of someone who was part of your daily life and your idea of home.
In many families the person grieving is also the person arranging everything: the rituals, the relatives, the paperwork, the food. The feeling often arrives later, once the house is quiet again. Missing them, being angry with them, feeling relief, feeling nothing at all, all of these belong to grief. So does still talking to them in your head.
- The house is quiet and you do not know what to do with yourself
- You are fine in front of people and not fine alone
- Sleep, appetite or concentration have not settled
- Festivals, anniversaries and their birthday get heavy
A place to grieve without managing anyone else’s feelings, and room for the parts you cannot say at home, including anger, relief or guilt.
Sudden, violent or unexpected death
A death with no warning: an accident, a medical emergency, violence, or a death by suicide.
When a death is sudden, two things run at once. There is the missing, and there is the shock: the phone call replaying, the pictures your mind fills in, the last conversation you keep rewinding. Police steps, a post-mortem or a case can drag on while you are still catching up with what happened. Where a death carries stigma, people often go quiet around you, which makes it lonelier. Support usually starts with the shock before the grief itself.
- The moment you found out replays on its own
- You go over and over what you could have noticed
- People change the subject when you mention it
- Ordinary places feel unsafe now
Steadying the shock first, with practical skills for the replaying, and grief work once that settles a little. Guilt and what-ifs get proper time instead of being argued away.
Caring for someone who is dying
Grief that starts before the death, while you are still doing the caring.
Looking after someone who is not going to get better is its own loss, and it is often invisible to everyone else. You may be handling medicines, hospital trips and money, sleeping badly, and grieving quietly at the same time. In many Indian families this lands on one person, often a daughter or a daughter-in-law, and asking for help can feel like failing. Wanting it to be over, then hating yourself for the thought, is common and does not make you a bad person.
- You are exhausted and cannot say so
- You have stopped seeing your own friends and your own doctor
- You snap, then feel awful about it
- You are already grieving and feel guilty about that
Somewhere to put what you cannot say to the family, plus practical thinking about sharing the load, getting rest, and what you will need afterwards.
Grief after separation or divorce
The end of a marriage or a long relationship, and the life that came with it.
Nobody has died, so people expect you to be fine, and there is often judgement mixed into the sympathy. What you are grieving is real: the person, the routine, the in-laws, the home, the future you had planned, sometimes time with your children. Guilt, relief and anger can all turn up in the same week.
- You are fine for days and then flattened
- You rehearse old arguments in your head
- Family opinion arrives before family support does
- You do not know who you are outside the marriage
Working out what you are actually grieving, handling family and social pressure, and rebuilding a routine and a sense of who you are now.
Losing health, work or a role that defined you
When an illness, a job ending, a retirement or a move takes away something you were.
An illness that changes what your body can do. A job that ended. Retirement. Children settling abroad. Leaving the city you knew. These are real losses even though nobody sends condolences for them. The hardest part is often not the thing itself but the version of yourself that went with it.
- You avoid people who knew the old you
- Small talk about work or health is unbearable
- You feel useless even when you are busy
- Anger turns up where sadness should be
Naming the loss properly instead of pushing through it, then rebuilding daily structure and finding roles that still fit the life you have now.
Loss of a pet
The death of an animal who was family, and the grief other people may not take seriously.
For many people a pet is the one who was there every single day. When they die the grief can be as heavy as any other, and it usually comes with a second problem: being told it was only a dog, or only a cat, and feeling you have no right to be this upset. If you had to make a decision about ending their suffering, guilt often sits on top of the sadness. You do not have to justify this loss here.
- You hide how much it hurts
- You still turn at the door out of habit
- You go over the decision again and again
- You cannot face the bowl, the leash or the empty spot
Taking the loss seriously, going back over the decision with what you actually knew at the time rather than what you know now, and finding one or two people who will not minimise it.
Also Here For You
People often come to us for these too:
Pregnancy Loss And Losing A Baby
Miscarriage, stillbirth or the loss of a newborn, and the silence that often follows.
Talk to us
Losing A Friend Or A Colleague
Losses that other people do not count as yours to grieve.
Talk to us
An Old Loss That Has Come Back
When a new loss, a date or a life change reopens one from years ago.
Talk to us
Why This Kind Of Support Helps
Grief Is Not A Problem To Be Fixed
Grief is a normal response to losing something that mattered. The work is not about removing it. It is about carrying it with less isolation.
When Extra Help Matters
If grief is stopping you eating, sleeping, working or being with people, and it is not easing at all, talk to someone. If you are having thoughts of not wanting to be here, call Tele-MANAS free on 14416, or 112 if you feel unsafe right now.
No Correct Order, No Deadline
Rituals and prayer periods help some people and feel like a clock to others. Whether you feel steadier in weeks or are still raw after years, there is nothing wrong with you.
No Crisis Needed
You can come while things still feel small, or hard to put into words.
How It Works
Reach out
A first meeting
Plan together
Check as you go
What A First Session Is Like
Mostly listening. Your therapist will ask about the person or the thing you lost, what your days look like now, and how you are sleeping and eating. You will not be asked to stop crying or to look on the bright side. You can bring a photo if you want to, and you can leave out anything you are not ready to say.
Psychologists And Counsellors
For talking therapy, one to one, in person or online.
A Psychiatrist, If Needed
For a medical opinion when medicine is worth discussing.
Family, If You Want
Joint sessions with the people close to you, only if you choose.
If someone you love is grieving
Most people say nothing because they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Turning up is worth more than the right sentence.
- Say the name of the person who died. Not mentioning them is what hurts.
- Skip "at least they are at peace" and "be strong". Try "I am here, and I am not going anywhere".
- Keep showing up after the prayer days are over. That is when the house empties.
- If they say they do not want to be here, stay with them and call 14416, or 112 if it is happening now.
If you need help right now
- If you are thinking of ending your life, harming yourself, or of joining the person you lost, call 112 or go to the nearest hospital emergency.
- Tele-MANAS, the government mental health helpline, is free and open at any time on 14416 or 1-800 891 4416.
- Trijog is not an emergency service. Booking a session is not the right step when you need help in the next few hours.
If any of these is happening, please do not wait for an appointment. Call 112 or go to the nearest hospital emergency. Tele-MANAS is free and open any time on 14416 or 1-800 891 4416.
Try A Free Self-Check
A few quick questions about mood, sleep and stress. It is free, it is not a diagnosis, and it cannot measure grief. You will be asked for a phone number to start, and you can share the result.
Mood Check
Stress And Worry Check
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no set time and no correct order. Some people feel steadier in weeks, others are still raw after years, and both are normal. What matters is how much it is affecting your life, not how long it has been.
Grief does not run to other people’s timelines. If the sadness comes and goes and you are getting through your days, that is grief doing what it does. If it is stuck and life has stopped, talking to someone can help.
Yes. Relief after a long illness, numbness, anger, even irritation with the person who died are all common. None of it means you loved them any less.
Yes. Your faith, your rituals and your family customs are yours. Your therapist works with them, not against them, and will not ask you to do grief a particular way.
Yes, if you want that. Some families find one joint session helps them talk about the loss together instead of talking around it.
Our therapists offer talking therapy and do not prescribe. Grief on its own is not usually something medicine treats. If your sleep or mood needs a medical opinion, your therapist can help you see a psychiatrist.
Visit Our Centres
Meet your therapist in person at one of our three Mumbai centres, or join online from home.
Powai
406, 4th Floor, B-Wing, Powai Plaza, opp. Nirvana Park, Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai 400076
Phone: 1800 202 7180
Time: Mon to Sat, 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Directions & Google reviews
Bandra
Office No. G6, Bandra Nicholas C.H.S Ltd, Sherlyn Rajan Road, Rizvi Complex, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050
Phone: 1800 202 7180
Time: Mon to Sat, 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Directions & Google reviews
Prabhadevi
Dr. Palep's Polyclinic, Manoj Co-Operative Hsg Society, Shankar Ghanekar Marg, opp. Rachana Sansad College of Architecture, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025
Phone: 1800 202 7180
Time: Mon to Sat, 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Directions & Google reviews
Start With One Conversation
You do not need the right words ready. Tell us what has been going on, and we will take it from there.
If you are thinking of ending your life or harming yourself, or you feel unsafe right now, call 112 or go to the nearest hospital emergency. For free support any time, call the government’s Tele-MANAS helpline on 14416 or 1-800 891 4416. Trijog is not an emergency service. Outside India, call your local emergency number.
Educational content, not therapy or a diagnosis. A Trijog therapist can help with what is yours specifically.