Perinatal Grief Counseling

Are You Grieving Or Struggling With The Loss Of A Pregnancy?

Has miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss upended your life and transformed what was supposed to be a time of celebration into a period of fear and uncertainty? Have you been forced to terminate a pregnancy for medical reasons (TFMR), leaving you to process a complex mix of guilt, sadness, grief, and hope?

Perhaps you’ve lost your sense of trust in the world or control over your body because you “did everything right” and “followed all the rules,” but things still didn’t work out. Or maybe you are so worried you’re going to have another traumatic experience that it’s making you question whether you even want to try having children again.

The Loss Of An Infant Or Pregnancy Is Devastating For Any Parent

Most days, you probably feel like a stranger to yourself. The joy and anticipation of parenthood have been replaced with anxiety and self-blame. You’re likely withdrawing from others to cope with the numbness, confusion, and unrealness of a world turned upside-down. 

And despite their support, you may feel disconnected from your spouse or partner as you navigate powerful, overwhelming emotions you don’t know how to process on your own. 

Coping with the loss of an infant or pregnancy is a lonely, seemingly unending journey. However, perinatal grief counseling with Thrive Postpartum Couples & Family Therapy can give you a place to truly process your pain, honor your loss, and move forward with your life in peace.   

Perinatal Loss Is A Painful Reality For Many Couples

Though it may not be too much consolation, it’s estimated that 26 percent of all pregnancies suffer a miscarriage, making it the most common form of pregnancy loss. So it’s not a personal failure or something to be ashamed of. 

Unfortunately, the idea of sitting with someone’s pain causes a lot of cultural discomfort in our society, meaning that a lot of grieving parents don’t have a reliable network of emotional support. Social forces—even friends and family—just want the person to feel better and move on, which limits the grieving process. 

And couples are often told, You’re young; you’ll have another chance. You already have beautiful children; focus on them. Or Everything happens for a reason. 

None of this helps.

Empty Platitudes Only Further Alienate And Invalidate A Person Who Is Suffering

For many people, those well-wishes produce silent and disenfranchised grief, forcing parents to hide their struggle after a perinatal loss because others don’t recognize their pain as valid. But grieving is a natural and necessary part of the healing process. It has no timeline, and healthy grieving can look very different across people.

The truth is, you are not just grieving the death of a child but also the loss of innocence. You’re mourning your health and a lost sense of control in your life. You’re grieving for the whole narrative of what could have been. And that takes time.

At Thrive Postpartum Couples & Family Therapy, we understand what you are going through. And our perinatal grief counselors would be honored to help hold your pain and show you a path forward.

Perinatal Grief Counseling Gives You A Place To Lay Bare Your Pain

Many parents mourning the loss of a pregnancy or infant, have nowhere to bring their grief—no enduring resource for support. And though friends and family can be powerful allies, their lack of professional training and neutrality makes it hard to provide the impartial, sustainable help that the grieving need. 

Our counselors at Thrive Postpartum Couples & Family Therapy are specially trained to walk with you through your grief and bear your suffering no matter how great. Here, you can let it all hang out without worrying about being judged, dismissed, or prodded to move on. 

We can handle your pain and stand with you through this uncertain period—and in time, you can find peace in yourself and joy in life again.

A Look Inside Perinatal Grief Counseling Sessions

Life after losing a pregnancy involves a maelstrom of mixed—sometimes even conflicting—emotions. Being terrified and hopeful, fearful and optimistic, and discouraged yet determined are all natural reactions to loss. So part of perinatal grief therapy is about managing emotions, including working through any negative thoughts or self-beliefs you may have unconsciously adopted. 

That starts with us giving you a safe space where you can explore your story and discover healthy ways of sitting with your loss and coming to terms with any circumstances beyond your control. As you share your pain, you’ll build emotional muscle—enhancing your resilience and capacity to experience and reconcile the whole spectrum of emotions. 

Some Of The Goals Of Perinatal Grief Counseling 

Our overarching hope is to gently change your relationship with grief. We want the experience to remain a part of you while depriving it of the power to define the way you think or feel.

Honoring your loss is a big part of learning how to navigate reminders and manage daily life. Working together, we can customize creative ways of paying tribute to your baby that foster a continuous, conscious, and healthy bond with their memory. As your strength, hope, and courage grow, you’ll start to feel fully alive again and comfortable with all of your feelings—even the painful ones. 

Whatever you are going through—no matter how great your pain—Thrive Postpartum Couples and Family Therapy is here. If you have suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed IVF, TFMR, or any other complication, you can make it through this—and we’ll help support you until you do. 

Right now, you probably feel like the overwhelming sadness and grief is something you struggle to escape and yet fear leaving behind. However, through grief work—by turning toward friends, family, and our specially trained counselors, you can honor your baby’s memory while building the strength to embrace your emotions and carry on. 

Perhaps You Are Considering Perinatal Grief Counseling But Still Have Some Concerns…

What if therapy only makes me feel worse?

A lot of grieving parents try to bury their emotions and hurry back to life, but grief weighs a person down, polluting every aspect of their lives. People lose their temper quicker, get sick more, lack focus throughout the day, and sometimes turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

Perinatal grief counseling allows you to finally work through the pain so that it no longer interferes with your life. The truth is, you are already suffering. And though therapy may seem intimidating at first, learning to love yourself and accept your pain can help you find comfort and connection despite your loss.  

My grief is the only thing that helps me feel connected to my baby, and I don't know if I want to let go of it. 

Rest assured, our job is not to help you forget or abandon your pain. Rather, the goal of perinatal grief counseling is to show you how to build a conscious, willful relationship with your baby and their memory. By integrating your experience into your story, you can learn to remember your child with fondness while still being able to move forward without feeling guilty or ashamed. 

I want to have another child, but I’m afraid of losing another pregnancy. Can perinatal grief therapy help me move toward this goal? 

The loss of a pregnancy shatters the fairytale-like illusion that many parents get to enjoy. So for the grieving, there is a lot of fear, stress, and worry that something similar could happen again. 

But honestly, the best thing you can do for yourself is relax and take care of yourself—and therapy can help you do that. Stress and anxiety can have a huge influence on your well-being, so the sooner you allow yourself to heal, the sooner you’ll feel hopeful, confident, and courageous enough to try again. 

Let Us Help You Bear Your Grief And Loss

If you need a place to bring your pain and heal the wounds of losing a child, we would be honored to support you. Please call 224 698 9792 for your free consultation or use our contact page to schedule your first session. If you would like to know more about our perinatal grief counselors’ certifications and special training, you can follow the links below.

Additional Certifications