Grief Counseling Near Me | For Bereavement & Mourning

If you’ve experienced the loss of a loved one, a partner, a child, or even a pet, grief therapy can help you cope with the sometimes overwhelming emotions you may be feeling.

This article explains how to find a qualified grief counselor, and which online platforms and directories allow you to connect with one of these professionals.

Later on, we’ve also explained what you need to know when searching for grief counseling.

Grief counseling near me

Below, we’ll go over three of the best services you can use to find a grief counselor you can visit in your town or city, or book for online consultations.

1. BetterHelp

If you’ve experienced a painful loss and feel like you can’t manage on your own anymore, BetterHelp can be a good option for getting support. This is an online therapy platform with thousands of licensed professionals who help people work through various common mental health issues, including overwhelming grief.

Before you start, you’ll answer a few questions about your preferences and the problems you’re facing. For example, you might prefer a female counselor who has experience helping people with bereavement following the death of a close family member.

Based on this, BetterHelp will match you with a therapist who has the right experience, including dealing with loss, emotional trauma, and the complex process of acceptance.

Once you’ve matched with a therapist, you’ll have one counseling session each week, over a video or phone call. Plus, you can exchange unlimited text messages with your therapist in between sessions.

You set the schedule for your weekly session and choose the communication style that feels most comfortable for you. For example, you can just communicate via text messaging if you’d prefer, or schedule your sessions outside of working hours, at a time that suits you.

This makes support accessible even during those moments when taking the first step feels incredibly hard.

If it turns out the match doesn’t feel right after starting to speak with your counselor, you can easily switch therapists at any time you like.

Thanks to its easy therapist matching service, and ability to get counseling from the comfort of your own home, this platform is very accessible, even if you feel completely struck down by grief.

It’s important to know that BetterHelp does not accept health insurance. However, it does offer a financial aid program for users who meet certain criteria, such as having a limited income or experiencing financial hardship.

When signing up, you can apply for financial aid through a short online form and, if approved, you’ll receive a reduced subscription rate.

The monthly cost of BetterHelp is calculated individually based on your city/state and therapist preferences, but this platform is generally cheaper than seeing a regular therapist in person, assuming you’re paying out of pocket.

2. Mental Health Today

Here at Mental Health Today, we have an online directory of licensed therapists, including many with extensive experience supporting people through grief and bereavement.

On the directory, you can browse profiles to find someone who specializes in grief support, and then narrow your search by state, gender, and any other preferences you have in a therapist.

Each specialist has an individual profile, where you can find information about their licensing and specialties, the format of consultations (whether in-person or online), and a direct contact link to reach the therapist.

Prices aren’t shown, so you need to contact the therapist directly to find out what they charge per session, and whether they offer sliding-scale fees for those on lower incomes.

The platform lists licensed professionals who offer grief counseling, and many can provide in-person sessions, which is good if you’d prefer to get face-to-face support.

However, Mental Health Today doesn’t have an integrated system and app for scheduling and conducting online counseling sessions like BetterHelp does, so if you want to get help remotely, you’ll need to arrange this directly with the therapist.

3. Grief.com

Going through a loss means you’re walking a path with no ready-made maps. Grief.com was created as a space for those going through the difficult process of grief.

This website has a dedicated grief counselor directory where you can search for specialists based on their certification, country, and state. You can also look up therapists by keyword, to find someone who specializes in supporting people in dealing with the kind of grief you’re experiencing.

The site recommends starting by calling the counselor to learn about their services, as there is not a lot of information about them displayed on the website. You might like to ask about their counseling approach and briefly share your story to see if they might be a good fit for you.

At this point, you can schedule a first counseling session, to determine if you and the therapist are a good fit. Be sure to discuss fees upfront to avoid any misunderstandings before starting to work together.

It is important to note that Grief.com does not vet clients or providers, and the directory is for informational purposes only. There are a range of qualified psychotherapists on the platform, but there are also wellness coaches and grief educators who don’t have psychology qualifications, which it’s important to be aware of.

What to expect from grief therapy

Grief isn’t a symptom or a diagnosis; it’s your body’s response to losing someone who can’t be replaced.

As a result, grief counseling tends to be very different from other types of psychological support, in that there usually aren’t goals such as “get better in three months,” and your counselor is unlikely to say “you need to let go.” Instead, grief therapy is designed to give you space: to be, to feel, to stay silent, to get angry, to remember.

At the beginning of grief therapy, the process might depend on where you’re at emotionally and mentally. Some people come to therapy when the pain is still so fresh that even speaking a single word feels impossible. Others might arrive only after months or years, when everything that’s been building up inside feels too overwhelming to carry any longer.

Sessions might start with a simple question, such as “Tell me about the person who’s gone.” The question usually isn’t just about the facts; it’s about the relationship, the memories, the love, the guilt, and everything that’s left behind. A therapist can help you put into words what might feel impossible to explain: the inner chaos, the anger at fate, the fear of forgetting their voice or face.

A meaningful part of the process might involve saying goodbye, not as a ritual, but as a way to bring some kind of closure to what was left unsaid.

Sometimes this includes writing letters to the person who passed or speaking aloud as if having a conversation with them. These are tools that can help bring emotions to the surface and allow you to actually feel them, rather than shutting them away.

Some therapists might also support you in exploring how the loss has changed your sense of self: who are you now without this person? How do you keep being a parent if you’ve lost a child? How do you let joy in again if all you feel is guilt? These are deeply personal, painful questions, and they usually need to be treated with special care.

Counseling approaches may vary, from talk therapy to body-based practices, memory work, or drawing, but what tends to matter most is that nothing feels rushed, because grief usually moves at its own pace. Therapy might simply offer a safe space for it to exist, and because of that, over time, grief might start to feel less destructive.

It may help to understand that the goal of therapy usually isn’t to forget the person you lost. It’s more about learning how to live alongside the pain, so that eventually there’s room again: for yourself, and for a life that’s different, but still livable.

Grief therapy sessions are usually held once a week. Depending on the depth of your grief, therapy might last anywhere from a few weeks to 3-6 months or longer.

How to choose the right counselor

The success of grief therapy often depends greatly on finding the right mental health professional.

When choosing a counselor, you might want to consider a few of these key factors:

• Experience with loss. You’re encouraged to ask whether the therapist has helped people who have gone through similar pain before.
• License and education. The therapist should be certified in your state. A valid license demonstrates that the counselor has met professional standards, and grief counselors often have specialized training or certifications in grief and loss counseling. For example, they may be a Certified Grief Counselor (CGC) from the American Academy of Grief Counseling.
• Human factors and personal preferences. It’s a good idea to consider the therapist’s gender, age, and cultural competence, based on what feels most comfortable to you. Otherwise, it might be difficult to fully open up.
• Therapy method. You may want to learn about the therapist’s approach. For example, they might use talk therapy that focuses on changing negative thoughts, or guide you through structured recall and reprocessing of distressing events to reduce their emotional impact.

If you’re not feeling a connection or sense of comfort after the first few sessions, it might be worth considering a new therapist.

Though changing counselors may feel challenging, it’s important to be prepared to do so on the off-chance it’s not a good fit. Effective therapy is about the human connection, and it’s crucial that you feel comfortable and willing to open up to the person you’re speaking with.

How much does grief therapy cost in the US?

Therapy costs can vary depending on whether sessions are held online or in person, the type of therapy offered, your city/state, and the therapist’s level of experience.

Without insurance, you can expect grief therapy to cost around $100–$200 per session. In major cities with a high cost of living, the price may exceed $250.

Fortunately, some therapists offer flexible fees based on your income, reducing the fee to $50 per session or lower. This is known as sliding-scale pricing.

Online platforms are typically more affordable than in-person therapy, often costing 20-50% less per session. Plus, services like BetterHelp are generally around 30-50% cheaper than in-person therapy, even though they often give you the ability to message your counselor in between scheduled sessions.

Does health insurance cover grief therapy?

In most cases, health insurance in the US covers some or all of your grief therapy costs, depending on the type of insurance you have. Here’s how it usually works:

• Commercial insurance often covers services such as individual therapy or counseling provided by licensed mental health professionals, including psychologists, clinical social workers, or licensed counselors. You might want to check with your insurance provider whether grief counseling is covered specifically or if it falls under general mental health or therapy benefits.
• ACA (Marketplace) plans generally include therapy, but finding a grief specialist with the right experience and availability can sometimes be challenging.
• With TRICARE, COBRA, and student insurance, coverage varies by plan. It’s best to check the details directly with your provider.

Online vs in-person grief therapy

If you’re dealing with grief and looking for a therapist, you might be wondering whether it’s best to connect with a counselor online or in person.

We’ve compared these two formats to help you get a clearer idea of what might suit you better.

It’s important to note, both formats of counseling can be highly effective in helping you manage grief. The most important thing is which feels most comfortable to you, and which format makes it easiest to attend regular counseling sessions to work through the loss you’ve experienced.

Conclusion

The journey through grief is often a deeply personal and unique experience, one that can’t be navigated using a single prescribed formula.

Grief therapy doesn’t erase the pain or offer a quick fix, but it might help you avoid dealing with loss completely alone, allowing you to find some support, and rediscover yourself.

If you’re still not sure how best to find a grief counselor, leave us a comment below, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.