Why Does Grief Come Back? Understanding Grief Waves, Triggers, and Regrief
You can be having a perfectly normal day, minding your business, maybe even feeling pretty good about life. Then a song comes on, a memory pops up, or something reminds you of what you've lost, and suddenly grief is right there again.
What the hell? Weren't things getting better?
One of the more confusing parts of grief is how unexpectedly it can resurface.
Why Does Grief Affect Us the Way It Does? 5 Grief Theories Explained
Explore five major grief theories that help explain why loss affects our emotions, relationships, identity, and worldview. From Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory and Bowlby’s Attachment Theory to Continuing Bonds, Meaning Reconstruction, and Shattered Assumptions, discover how grief psychology has evolved and how these perspectives can help us better understand the complexities of grief, healing, and life after loss.
Grief Models: Is There Really a “Right” Way to Grieve?
Explore five grief models, including the 5 and 7 Stages of Grief, Growing Around Grief, Worden’s Four Tasks, and the Dual Process Model. Learn how these frameworks help explain the grieving process, emotional ups and downs, and adapting to life after loss—while reminding us that grief isn't linear, healing looks different for everyone, and joy and grief can coexist.
Grief Therapy vs. Grief Coaching: Which One’s Right for You?
Grief therapy and grief coaching both offer meaningful support — but they’re not the same. This post breaks down the key differences between grief therapy and grief coaching, including who each is for, how they work, and when one might be more supportive than the other. You’ll learn how licensure and scope of practice matter, why transparency is essential when seeking grief support, and how some licensed grief therapists can ethically offer both. Whether you’re deep in the pain of loss or beginning to imagine life beyond it, this guide helps you choose the support that meets you where you are.
The Grief of the In-Between
Feeling stuck in the space between what was and what’s next? Learn how to navigate the grief of the in-between—a liminal space of transition, uncertainty, and quiet growth—with compassion, grounding, and clarity.
Grieving a Loss in Your Identity
Grieving identity loss is often invisible but deeply real. Learn how identity shifts through life changes or death create unique forms of grief.
PTSD vs. Grief: Why They’re Not the Same (But Can Overlap)
Discover the difference between grief and PTSD, how they overlap, and why understanding both matters. Learn how grief is a natural response to loss while PTSD is the brain stuck in survival mode—and why support looks different for each.
Carrying Love Forward: Healing Through the Four Tasks of Grief
Learn how Worden’s Four Tasks of Grief—accepting the reality of loss, feeling the pain, adjusting to a changed world, and finding lasting connection—can guide you through healing. Grief isn’t stages, it’s work, and these tasks offer compassionate tools for moving forward while honoring your love.
The Many Faces of Grief: Understanding the Different Types of Grief
Explore the many types of grief—anticipatory, disenfranchised, complicated, and more—and why naming your grief helps you heal.
Why Grief Can Make You Physically Exhausted: Understanding the Body’s Response to Loss
Grief can cause fatigue, brain fog, and body aches. Learn why grief impacts your body—and how to care for yourself through the exhaustion.
Grief vs. Mourning: What’s the Difference?
Discover the key differences between grief and mourning. Learn how grief is the internal experience of loss, while mourning is its outward expression—and why understanding both can support healing.
The Grieving Teenager: What’s Going On & How You Can Help
Learn how to recognize the signs of grief and suicide risk in teenagers and discover practical ways to support your grieving teen with compassion and confidence.
The Five Dimensions of Grief: A More Human Way to Understand Loss
Explore the Five Dimensions of Grief—a compassionate, realistic alternative to the outdated stages model. Learn how grief impacts your body, mind, emotions, relationships, and beliefs.
Anticipatory Grief: Grieving Before the Goodbye
Learn what anticipatory grief is, its stages and symptoms, and how to cope with the emotional rollercoaster of grieving before a loss. Validation, support, and tools to help you through.
What is Prolonged Grief Disorder?
Learn what Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is, how it differs from typical grief, and why Griefology questions the diagnosis in a culture that rushes grief and silences mourning.
The Stages of Grief: Helpful Framework or Total BS?
Discover the Five and Seven Stages of Grief—what they get right, what they miss, and why grief isn’t a linear process. Learn how these models can help (or frustrate) your healing journey.
Why We’re So Bad at Grieving
Our culture rushes grief, pressures us to move on, and avoids tough conversations about loss. This post explores why society struggles with grief and how we can do better.