Energy Healing for Grief and Loss: Gentle Support When Words Aren’t Enough
Grief lives in the body. People tell me they are "fine" and then can't take a full breath, can't sleep, can't feel anything at all, or feel everything at once. Talking helps some people. For others, the loss is bigger than words, or it has been years and the talking is done but something is still held. That is often when someone finds their way to energy healing.
I have worked with grieving clients for three decades, in my Worthington office and by phone or video for people who cannot or would rather not come in. This post is about what energy work can and cannot do for grief, and what a session is like.
What Grief Does in the Body
Loss registers in the nervous system as a shock, even when it was expected. The body braces. Many people describe a tightness through the chest, a closed-down feeling around the heart, a heaviness in the shoulders, shallow breathing, or exhaustion that sleep doesn't touch. Some lose their appetite; some lose their sense of time. These are not failures to cope. They are the body doing what bodies do when something that was there is suddenly gone.
Grief also rarely arrives alone. It brings up older losses, unfinished conversations, guilt, relief, anger, and love, often all in the same hour. The body holds all of that too.
How Energy Healing Approaches Grief
In the Brennan Healing Science tradition I trained in, grief shows up most often around the heart center and in the overall charge of the field, which tends to go flat or collapse inward. The work is not about making the grief go away. It is about helping the body stop bracing against it, so the natural movement of grieving can happen instead of staying stuck.
Practically, that means:
- Restoring breath and ground. Early sessions often focus on the lower body and the breath, so you feel supported enough to feel anything at all.
- Working gently with the heart. Light touch or hands near the chest, with no agenda, while you rest. Clients often describe warmth, a loosening, or tears that come easily and leave them lighter.
- Making room for what arises. Memories, images, and unsaid things sometimes surface. We stay with them at your pace. Nothing is forced, and you can stop or pause at any time.
- Rebuilding charge. Grief is depleting. Part of the work is simply helping your system recharge, so you have more to meet your days with.
When grief has gone on long enough to wear the whole system down, it can start to look a lot like burnout, and the two often overlap.
What a Session Is Like
We begin by talking briefly, as much or as little as you want. You lie fully clothed on the treatment table, or sit if that feels better. I work with my hands lightly on or near the body, listening to what is present. Sessions run 60 to 75 minutes, and we leave time at the end to talk about what came up and how to care for yourself afterward. By phone or video, the session follows the same shape from your own home, which many grieving clients prefer.
Some people feel a great deal during a session; some feel very little and notice changes over the following days. Both are normal. I describe this more in how energy healing works.
Grief Doesn't Follow a Schedule
I see people in the first raw weeks, and I see people ten years after a loss who have just realized they never let themselves feel it. There is no wrong time. If you are also in grief counseling or therapy, energy work sits comfortably alongside it; many of my clients do both, and I am glad to work as part of your support. This is complementary care, not a replacement for mental-health treatment, and if you are in crisis please reach out to a crisis line or your doctor first.
A Note on Anniversaries, Holidays, and Hard Dates
Many clients book a session around the dates they know will be hard: the anniversary, a birthday, the holidays. Having somewhere to bring it, and someone to hold the space, can make those days more bearable. You don't need to explain or justify the timing.
Working With Me
I offer energy healing for grief and loss at my office in Worthington, serving the Columbus area, and by phone or video anywhere in the United States and Canada. Sessions are $150, with package options for ongoing support. If you would like to talk first, call or text (614) 653-8111 for a free 15-minute consultation. There is no pressure to decide anything on the call.
Sharon Hartnett, CST-D
Energy healer and craniosacral therapist, Barbara Brennan School of Healing graduate
Lighten Up Therapies, 6797 N High Street Ste 333, Worthington, Ohio 43085
