Grief is not a problem to be solved but a process to be accompanied. Sometimes it’s hard to go through it alone.
Losing someone close changes your daily routine, your identity and your sense of safety in the world. There is no “right” timeline for grief, and no single way to mourn. At the clinic you can find a place where the pain doesn’t need to be hidden or explained.
What is grief?
Grief is not a linear path of stages. It moves in waves — a good day followed by a hard one, longing alongside anger, and sometimes relief and then guilt about the relief. In Israel there are structured mourning customs such as the shiva, the shloshim and the yearly memorial, and alongside the comfort they offer, many people experience the great emptiness precisely after the shiva, when the house empties and life around them carries on.
When to seek help
Recognising the signs and knowing when help can make a difference
When grief stays at full intensity for a long time and affects your ability to function, when heavy guilt or a sense that there’s no point in going on appears, when you can’t return to work or to relationships, or when the pain is expressed only through the body — it’s worth seeking professional support. Even without a “diagnosis”, having a space to talk makes a difference.
Types of loss and grief
Prolonged grief
When longing remains intense and paralysing for more than a year, when thoughts revolve only around the person who died and it’s hard to return to life — this is a prolonged grief reaction. It is a recognised condition that calls for dedicated support, and it is not a failure: it reflects the depth of the bond and the need for help in carrying it.
Anticipatory grief
Anticipatory grief begins even before the loss itself, when someone close is terminally ill or in cognitive decline. Family members grieve for someone who is still here. It is a confusing, guilt-inducing state, and support helps in bearing the waiting and staying meaningfully connected in the time that remains.
Sudden loss
A sudden death — an accident, a heart attack, a terror attack or suicide — leaves no time to say goodbye. Alongside grief, a traumatic reaction sometimes appears: recurring images, difficulty believing and a sense of unreality. In these cases therapy combines processing the trauma with supporting the grief itself.
Unrecognised loss
Some losses are not always recognised by those around us as justifying grief: miscarriage, divorce, a break-up, the loss of a friend, the death of a pet, or the loss of health and independence. The pain is no less real, and the lack of recognition adds loneliness. In therapy the loss is given a name and a place.
Pregnancy loss and stillbirth
Pregnancy loss, stillbirth or the death of a baby are among the most painful losses, and those around us sometimes rush to console instead of listening. Partners also often grieve at different paces. A therapeutic space allows you to grieve without rushing and to protect your relationship within the pain.
Grief in children and adolescents
Children grieve differently from adults: they move between sadness and play, ask direct questions and return to the same questions again and again. Sometimes grief shows up as changes in behaviour, sleep or schoolwork. Parent guidance helps you talk with your child in age-appropriate language and recognise when further help is needed.