Grief Therapy at Castle Craig

Grief Counselling at Castle Craig

Heal and Overcome Grief With Our Professional Support and Compassionate Care at Castle Craig

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Page Editorially Reviewed on 17 September 202426 May 2025 by Victoria McCann BA, MSc | Communications Director & Editorial Lead Victoria is a Director and Editorial Lead at Castle Craig, with over a decade of experience in addiction treatment communications and a passion for clear, ethical, stigma-free communication.

What is Grief?

Grief is a powerful human emotion which usually follows a loss. This loss may be due to the death of someone close to us, or some other type of personal loss such as redundancy, the end of a relationship, or a deterioration in our health. 

People respond to loss in different ways, and while some may be visibly upset and cry, others experience shock, denial, or disbelief. 

Longer-term responses to loss can include ongoing sadness and other mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, and this can lead some people to turn to substances or other forms of addictive behaviour as a way to numb their intense emotional pain. 

We know from experience that loss is a common theme among people in treatment for addiction. 

Symptoms of Grief

Emotions connected to grief are likely to come and go, and may not be present all the time. However, common feelings include:

• Extreme sadness
• Shock
• Anger
• Guilt 
• Exhaustion 

Signs of Complicated Grief

Most people will find that the intensity of their grief reduces over time, but this is not the case for everyone. When grief continues for months or years, it is referred to as complicated or prolonged grief.

Signs of complicated grief can include:

• Sadness or guilt which continues for more than 6 months
• Difficulty accepting the death has occurred
• Spending a lot of time thinking about the person who has died
• Being unable to do everyday activities
• Suicidal thoughts 

Complicated Grief and Addiction

Prolonged grief disorder or persistent complex bereavement disorder differs from what would typically be usual, in terms of length and emotional intensity for a person’s background and culture.¹

What’s more, there is a link between complicated grief and addiction. Research has found that complicated grief is one of the risk factors for substance misuse and that those who use substances have a higher chance of developing complicated grief.²

Similarly, it has been found that people with substance use disorders are more than six times more likely to be affected by complicated grief than the general population.³

How Can Grief Lead to Addiction?

Grief can be overwhelming and difficult to manage. The death of a loved one, for example, can affect a person’s sense of identity, purpose, and connection to others, resulting in feelings of loneliness and despair. 

To escape the painful emotions, some people may turn to drugs and alcohol as a way to numb their feelings. Using substances might provide some temporary relief, perhaps by helping people to relax or sleep during the initial grieving process. However, the regular use of drugs or alcohol to self-medicate the symptoms of grief can interfere with the natural grieving process and prevent individuals from healthily processing their emotions. 

Over time, if the grieving person continues to use substances as a coping mechanism, this can lead to addiction, with the person becoming psychologically and physically dependent on the substance to function.

What is Grief Counselling?

Grief counselling is a type of talk therapy that can help you to process and accept your loss. Your therapist will provide a safe, non-judgmental space where you can talk freely and openly about your thoughts and feelings. It can often be beneficial to speak to someone who is separate from the situation, and who isn’t a family member or friend. 

Your therapist can help you to focus on what is within your control, and to find strategies to help you cope in the here and now. These might include writing things down in a journal, doing more physical exercise, or meditation practices. Maintaining a routine and focusing on smaller goals can help to provide a sense of purpose.⁵

It is important to note that grief is a highly individualised process and that practices which help one person may not be so beneficial for someone else. 

How Therapy Can Help With Grief

Grief therapy can help you to cope with the emotional, psychological, and behavioural impacts of your loss. The therapy will explain the stages of normal grief together, and support you to develop healthy ways to manage difficult emotions.

Grief therapy can help with:

1. Understanding and coping with the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of grief, which can include depression, anxiety, and even physical illness.
2. Navigating the stages of grief and finding ways to adjust to life after loss.
3. Providing a sense of validation and normalisation, helps a person to realise that what they are going through is a natural part of the grieving process.
4. Providing coping strategies and tools for managing grief and related emotions, such as stress, anger, and guilt.
5. Identifying and addressing any unresolved issues or conflicts related to the loss which might be hindering the grieving process.
6. Offering an opportunity to express thoughts and feelings in a non-judgmental and compassionate setting.
7. Finding meaning and purpose, and facilitating personal growth and transformation.

Grief Therapy at Castle Craig

We see many people arrive at Castle Craig with unresolved grief issues. This often includes the death of a person, but can also be other losses, such as the end of a relationship, the death of a pet, or a miscarriage, for example. 

Unprocessed grief can be a trigger for relapse, and so these issues need to be addressed if addiction recovery is to be long-lasting. So, after assessment, we make sure that grief is considered as a part of every patient’s treatment plan. This is likely to involve individual and group therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions.

We also run dedicated grief therapy groups so that people can talk about their losses in a supportive environment. Group members are invited to carry out assignments between sessions, which they can then bring back and share with the rest of the group. 

The therapeutic community we provide is designed to help each person feel safe and supported while they work through any grief issues. As we recognise that grief can be a long-term issue for many of our patients, we also make sure that it is factored into our aftercare provision. 

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Coping With Grief When in Recovery

Grief can be triggering for people affected by addiction, as it can be a risk factor for relapse. 

Here are some tips to help with managing grief when in recovery.

1. Be sure to talk about your feelings to others, perhaps by joining a support group.
2. Practise good self-care such as healthy eating, sleeping, and exercise.
3. Keep busy.       
4. Try doing new things.
5. Allow yourself time to consider the good things in life that you still have. 

Can You Be Addicted to Grief?

For some people, letting go of grief can be extremely difficult, and long after a bereavement, a picture or memory can bring a fresh wave of upset and yearning. 

Scientists have found that for these people, complicated grief activates neurons in the brain’s reward centre, in a process that is similar to addiction. 

Usually, when our loved ones are alive, we get a neural reward from seeing them or being reminded of them. When a loved one dies, those who adapt to the loss stop getting this neural reward. However, some people continue to crave it and so repeatedly seek out reminders of their loved ones, albeit subconsciously, because each time they achieve the feelings they desire. 

This can make it much harder to move on from the loss and suggests that to an extent, some people may become addicted to their grief.⁶

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