What Strategies Can Help You Overcome Prolonged Grief and Regain Control of Your Life?

Prolonged grief, sometimes referred to as complicated grief, can disrupt many aspects of an individual’s daily functioning. Unlike grief that gradually fades with time, prolonged grief often keeps the individual emotionally stuck, making it difficult to reengage with life, relationships, or future plans. Therapy provides a structured space where the loss can be explored without pressure to move on or minimize the pain. Within that space, the individual is given room to make sense of emotions that may feel confusing, conflicting, or overwhelming, including sadness, guilt, anger, numbness, or persistent yearning.
 
Many individuals experiencing prolonged grief report feeling stuck in repetitive thoughts about the loss or trapped in emotional loops that interrupt sleep, concentration, and motivation. Through therapeutic work, those patterns can be identified and gradually reshaped. This process does not remove the loss, but it can change how the loss lives in the mind and body, allowing the individual to function again without feeling consumed by it.
 
At Blue Ocean Mental Health, the specialists take time to understand the full emotional and psychological impact of the loss, including how it has affected identity, relationships, and daily life. Treatment plans are developed around the individual’s experience.

Allowing grief to be felt and expressed is a central part of healing, particularly when grief has become prolonged. When emotions related to loss are suppressed or avoided, they often resurface in more disruptive ways, such as chronic anxiety, emotional numbness, or physical symptoms. Expression gives grief movement, preventing it from becoming fixed in the nervous system. Talking through the loss in therapy, writing about memories, acknowledging difficult anniversaries, or sharing feelings with trusted individuals can all create emotional release. Over time, the emotions often become less sharp and more integrated into the person’s broader life without preventing them from functioning.
 
The specialists at Blue Ocean Mental Health often work with individuals to develop ways of engaging with grief that feel tolerable and grounding. This may involve pacing emotional work, learning techniques that regulate emotional intensity, or establishing boundaries around when and how grief is processed. Such strategies help prevent grief from overtaking every moment while still honoring its presence. By learning how to live with grief in manageable ways, individuals often find that the emotions become less frightening and more predictable. This sense of emotional safety reduces avoidance and allows healing to occur gradually, helping grief coexist with daily life rather than dominating it.

After a significant loss, daily life often becomes complicated, particularly when routines and activities were closely tied to the person who is gone. Prolonged grief can deepen this disruption, leaving individuals feeling disconnected from purpose or direction. Engaging in new activities and building new routines can help reestablish structure, which is often one of the first steps toward emotional stability. New activities also create opportunities for experiences that are not defined by the loss. This does not mean replacing what was lost or diminishing its meaning. Instead, it allows space for new forms of engagement, curiosity, and connection to develop alongside grief. Creative outlets, learning opportunities, gentle physical movement, or volunteer work can reintroduce moments of presence and engagement that remind the individual that life continues to hold possibilities.
 
At Blue Ocean Mental Health, therapeutic work often includes supporting personal growth that aligns with the individual’s values and emotional readiness. When routines are built thoughtfully, they can reinforce self care, improve sleep and energy levels, and support emotional regulation, all of which are commonly disrupted during prolonged grief. Over time, these changes can help individuals reconnect with a sense of identity that extends beyond the loss.

Esder Shin, PMHNP, BC, approaches prolonged grief with individualized care and a thorough assessment. Recovery begins with understanding how the loss has affected emotional health, physical well-being, relationships, and daily functioning. This thorough assessment allows treatment to address the full scope of the grief experience.
 
At Blue Ocean Mental Health, care is grounded in evidence-based therapeutic approaches combined with compassionate support. Treatment may include grief focused counseling, cognitive based strategies to address intrusive thoughts, and supportive psychotherapy that helps individuals find meaning after loss. When prolonged grief is accompanied by depression, anxiety, or sleep disruption, medication management may also be considered to support emotional stability and engagement in therapy.
 
Through this integrated and personalized approach, individuals are supported in rebuilding emotional strength, reconnecting with life, and forming a path forward that honors both the loss and the possibility of future fulfillment.
 
Treatment for prolonged grief is available at Blue Ocean Mental Health. For more information, contact us or request an appointment online. We are conveniently located at 11850 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 200A, Los Angeles, CA 90025. We serve patients from Los Angeles CA, Pasadena CA, Beverly Hills CA, Glendale CA, Huntington Park CA, East Los Angeles CA, and surrounding areas.