Grief Support After a Loss: How a Cantor & Therapist Can Help

When someone we love passes away, the support we need doesn't end with the funeral. For many, the hardest part of grief comes later, when the rituals are over, the community has returned to their routines, and the loss has settled into the background of daily life. This is something I often think about in my work.

I'm a cantor and I officiate funerals, unveilings, and other Jewish lifecycle ceremonies. I'm also a licensed clinical social worker, and this dual background shapes how I support the families I work with. I don't just lead the services; I sit with people in their grief for as long as they need.

What Grief Support Actually Looks Like

Grief doesn't follow a neat timeline or necessarily stay in one lane. It shows up emotionally, relationally, spiritually, and sometimes physically. People struggle not just with the loss itself, but with questions about meaning, faith, family dynamics, and identity. What does it mean to carry someone's memory forward? How do Jewish mourning practices actually help, and what do you do when they don't feel like enough?

These are the kinds of conversations I'm here for.

My approach combines Jewish ritual and tradition with evidence-based grief counseling. We can talk about what shiva brought up for you and work through the psychological dimensions of what you're experiencing. We can explore how Jewish mourning practices, such as saying Kaddish or observing yahrzeit, might support your healing, and make space for the parts of grief that don't fit into any ritual framework.

Grief Doesn't Always Start After a Death

One thing that often surprises people is that the grieving process can begin before a loss occurs. Anticipatory grief, the grief that comes when someone you love is seriously ill or nearing the end of their life, is real and can be just as disorienting as grief after a death. This is also true for Ambiguous Loss, a term that captures the very real and often complicated experience of losing access to someone even before they’ve fully gone, such as with Alzheimer’s Disease. Having support during that time—someone to help you process what's coming while also managing family, medical decisions, and your own emotional experience—can make a meaningful difference.

I work with people at various points in the mourning process, whether that's in the days immediately after a loss, months later, or years down the road when a yahrzeit or life milestone brings everything back to the surface. In other words, we stay in relationship to make sure you get everything you need, no matter when you need it.

A Different Kind of Support

What makes my work unique is that I can hold both the spiritual and mental health dimensions at once. As a cantor, I understand the ritual landscape of Jewish mourning from the inside. I know what the prayers mean, how the structures of shiva and shloshim are designed to support the bereaved, and how to help people connect to those traditions in a way that feels genuine rather than obligatory. As a therapist, I understand grief as a psychological and relational process, too—a process that takes time, support, and space to unfold.

Grief is a natural and meaningful response to love. It doesn't need to be fixed or rushed. Having someone in your corner who understands both the spiritual and human dimensions of your experience can be helpful.

If you're dealing with a loss and looking for support that brings together Jewish tradition and therapeutic care, I'd be glad to talk. Get in touch here and we can figure out together what kind of support would be most helpful for you.