Last reviewed by Shannon Tarolli, LPCMH, NCC, CCATP — May 2026
The Dual Process Model of Grief offers a research-based understanding of how people heal after loss. Unlike stage models, it recognizes that grief doesn't follow a linear path. Instead, healthy grieving involves moving back and forth between two orientations: loss-oriented coping (grieving the loss directly) and restoration-oriented coping (adjusting to secondary consequences of loss and rebuilding life).
This oscillation is not avoidance — it's a normal and necessary part of grief. At Clarity, grief therapy drawing on the DPM helps clients honor the depth of their loss while also gently creating space for a new life alongside it.
Grieving the loss directly — experiencing and processing the pain, longing, and sorrow.
Attending to life changes that result from loss — new roles, identity shifts, practical adjustments.
Developing the capacity to move between grief and restoration, allowing both without getting stuck in either.
Finding ways to carry the person or thing lost forward in a continuing bond, not as a sign of unresolved grief but as a form of love.
The Dual Process Model is one of the most influential and empirically supported frameworks in bereavement research
Stroebe & Schut (1999), Death Studies
Accepting Clients With over 11 years of experience, Shannon specializes in grief, OCD, trauma, and anxiety. She takes a client-centered approach, creating a safe and supportive space built on trust and compassion. Her goal is to help clients build resiliency, practice psychological flexibility, and develop a new, profound acceptance of their emotions.
Book a ConsultationComplicated grief (also called prolonged grief disorder) involves grief that is intense and persistent, lasting more than 12 months, and significantly impacting daily functioning. Signs include intense yearning, difficulty accepting the loss, bitterness or anger, and feeling that life is meaningless without the person. Therapy can help.
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