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Bereavement and Loss
Bereavement counselling in Brighton and online. Qualified and experienced psychotherapist.


Fear of Death or Dying
We all know that we are born, that we live - and then we die. Mostly, we manage to deal with the fact that we are mortal and get on with...

Caroline Clarke
Aug 52 min read


How (Not) To Talk To A Person In Distress
At various times in our lives we will be faced with deciding how best to support family, friends, colleagues - and sometimes strangers - who are in distress.

Caroline Clarke
Nov 19, 20183 min read


Childhood Losses: Boarding School
How we deal with loss is fundamental to our mental and emotional well-being.

Caroline Clarke
Oct 2, 20173 min read


Secrets & Lies
Most families have secrets of some sort. Unwelcome truths are withheld, lies might be told and the burden of information that must not be shared is carried around. The weight of keeping such secrets - or a sense that something within the family doesn't quite add up - can lead to distress leaking out into daily life causing anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms. How might therapy help? Common Family Secrets Common secrets within families include withholding information about: p

Caroline Clarke
Dec 6, 20152 min read


Whose Past Is In Your Present?
I frequently come across examples of how unprocessed feelings associated with a distressing event or circumstances are passed down...

Caroline Clarke
Mar 1, 20152 min read


Things Can Only Get Better?
Many of us are prompted to come to therapy for one of two reasons: when something in our lives goes seriously wrong; or feelings such as anxiety (fear), anger and sadness become overwhelming. The last thing we want is for therapy to make us feel even worse. Getting Over The Hump (So To Speak...!) At first, and also perhaps just before we embark on a major change, spending time in the therapeutic space can feel very uncomfortable. Finally, we find ourselves facing difficulti

Caroline Clarke
Dec 3, 20142 min read


Bereavement Therapy: Complicated Grief
When someone close to us dies, two things have to happen : we need to attend to the - often unfamiliar - feelings that we are faced with; and we need to get on with living our lives. Most of the time, we work through a period of mourning with the support of friends and family. Sometimes, however, grief becomes complicated and we can end up feeling both overwhelmed and stuck. Having somewhere safe to talk things through can help. When Grief Gets Stuck There are many reasons w

Caroline Clarke
Sep 13, 20142 min read


With A Little Help From My Friends...
When we are going through a difficult time in our lives we often turn to those closest to us for comfort and advice. Talking to friends...

Caroline Clarke
Dec 15, 20133 min read


Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life?
I'm a bit of a Grinch when it comes to positive thinking . When we are sad I don't think it is helpful to feel like we always have to...

Caroline Clarke
Sep 27, 20132 min read


Good Grief
Is there a right way to grieve? I think the simple answer to this question is ‘no’. People grieve for the loss of their loved ones in all sorts of different ways and usually find their own path through the untidy mess of feelings that often follows death. However, I do believe that some ways of grieving can prove to be better than others. In my experience of working with people who have been bereaved, the best outcome seems to come about when: we are able to accept our feeli

Caroline Clarke
Jun 3, 20132 min read


Pet Bereavement
Pets can mean so much to us . They give us love, companionship, routine and, for example, in the case of dogs, exercise and all-weather fresh air. Often an integral part of the family, they can leave a very large hole when they die or we can no longer care for them and need to give them up. How might therapy help us process feelings of profound loss? When people come to therapy with problems associated with any form of bereavement or loss, a common theme is a belief that they

Caroline Clarke
Apr 6, 20132 min read
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