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Bereavement & Grief Therapy

Seeking Bereavement| Grief Therapy

Are you not sure if it is grief therapy, grief support, or bereavement counselling that you need? The answer is not the same for all. Different levels of interventions may be needed for different types of unresolved grief.

Bereavement is about losing someone. Grief is an emotional response to a type of loss, and not just death. Ambiguous grief can be felt in expats when moving to a new country, undergoing a career shift, or experiencing the loss of a relationship, and not achieving purpose, meaning in life or from losing hope, dreams or identity.

Grief therapy helps with bereavement complications and also other tpyes of losses to support you in processing these emotions.

When is Grief Therapy needed?

Those with complicated grief or unresolved need Grief Therapy. Instead of softening over time, Complicated Grief lingers on with the person, feeling heavy and hidden. The burden of extreme pain of grief affects the person’s functioning. The signs of unresolved grief are often misread as depression or burnout. It is vital to know if it is grief or depression to help avoid unnecessary and erroneous care.

Grief therapy for Complicated Grief

Complicated Grief can show many of these signs.

1. Emotional Numbness

Many feel emotionally flat, unable to cry, or disconnected from their surroundings. The person may carry on feeling robotic—just going through the motions but not able to feel the feelings.

Therapies like IFS (Internal Family Systems therapy) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) are brilliant ways to help as grief therapies in Dubai.

2. Painful Memories

Grieving individuals often can’t access heartfelt, positive memories. It feels like an internal wall prevents them from remembering these memories that likely help balance the pain. In IFS therapy, we explore these protective inner parts that feel the need to have this wall and safely negotiate with these protectors.

3. Guilt, Regret & Blame

You may feel stuck, weighed down by “should-haves.” In IFS therapy, we call this inner voice the “guilt-tripper”—a part trying to keep us reminded of the past and keeps us in rumination for a reason that is often out of our own awareness or logic.

4. Avoiding or Obsessing

Some avoid photos or places, while others dwell in memories with no room for other aspects of life. These opposing pulls may exist within the same person—one part trying to avoid, another clinging to the past. IFS therapy helps some of the extreme grieving parts with relief.

5. Fear of Intimacy After Loss

After any kind of loss, whether it be death or non-death, like divorce or relationship breakdown, trusting again can feel terrifying. Grief therapy helps you open up to connection by helping resolve the underlying reasons for this lack of trust or fear of reconnecting.

6. Seeking Relationships Too Fast

It is not uncommon to urgently and intensely seek new relationships for fear of loneliness. Others may over-care for others to escape their pain. These behaviors can stem from early unresolved wounds that may have brought this fear along with the recent loss. Any past childhood traumas are likely to play out in the current grief.

7. Compulsive Rituals

Grief may manifest as obsessive cleaning, controlling behaviors, or constant worry. IFS describes these aspects of us as “manager parts” that work hard to prevent further harm by controlling everything around us and their extreme strategies, often take them to exhaustion.

8. Panic Attacks

Panic can follow sudden or traumatic loss. These are often tied to shock and fear of the unknown. Any shock response can be a mix of flight, freeze, and flee responses following trauma.

9. Health Anxiety or Fear of Death

Health Anxiety can be a result of several underlying reasons, and unresolved grief can be one of them. Grief can disrupt your core sense of safety in the world.

10. Mirroring the Symptoms of the Deceased

Grief is a physical response. However, unresolved grief can be experienced as the same physical symptoms of the illness that the loved one suffered. This may be the body’s way of holding the grief.

11. Social Withdrawal

After a loss, especially in co-dependent relationships, some people completely isolate themselves. This isolation is worse in cities like Dubai, where many expats live away from their close family. Social networks are often temporary in Dubai and grief without being held and supported can continue to feel raw.

12. Substance Use

Alcohol or drug use may increase as a way to numb pain. Some live with the secrecy of this, especially in the UAE. Sharing such coping mechanisms might be scary due to stigma and judgment. Reaching out to a mental health therapist in Dubai can offer non-judgemental support.

13. Spiritual Confusion

Questions about spirituality and religion, assumptions that good people get rewarded by God or should be protected, may now be questioned. Grief can shake up those fundamental assumptions we have made for a long time, perhaps from our family of origin. Parts of the person could get into conflict. The spiritual and religious side might be longing for connection with God, while another part might be angry with God. IFS therapy beautifully works with different aspects that are in conflict.

14. Survivor’s Guilt

Feeling undeserving of joy or life after loss is common. If suicidal thoughts are present, please seek immediate help. More often, this is a deep existential sadness—struggling to find purpose or hope without the person you lost.

Dubai support resource: Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital – Emergency Mental Health Support

Grief Therapy Can Help

Regardless of the type of grief, whether attended to or unattended, grief needs support and care. If any of these signs resonate with you, grief therapy can help alleviate the emotional burden. While simply talking about the loss may not always be enough, trauma-informed therapy approaches like IFS and EMDR can be instrumental in resolving the intensity of grief, safely integrating pain, and rebuilding meaning in life.

About Dr. Millia

Dr. Millia is a Consultant Psychiatrist, EMDR therapist, and Level 3 IFS therapist in Dubai.
With over 25 years of experience in trauma, grief, and mental health, she has worked extensively in the U.K. as a speaker, writer, and therapist. She now practices at the First Psychiatry Clinic, Dubai.

If you or a loved one is experiencing signs of unattended grief, get in touch with Dr. Millia for an initial consultation. Grief therapy can help you find healing and emotional support during this challenging time.

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Dr Millia

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