--- title: "Anticipatory Grief Therapy Online in California | Sharon Meyers, LCSW" description: "Online therapy in California for grieving someone who is still alive. 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Book your free consultation today → ](/work-with-me) [![Sharon Meyers Therapy logo](/assets/logo-sanddollar-B1yhAvCA.png)Sharon Meyers Therapy LCSW #106887 ](/) [Home](/)[About](/about) Specialties [FAQ](/faq)[Blog](/blog)[Contact](/begin-here) ![A long hospital hallway window looking out on a gray dawn](/assets/anticipatory-grief-DajP3tr3.jpg) Therapy for # Anticipatory Grief You are mourning someone who is still in the next room. That is a strange and lonely place to stand. The diagnosis, the decline, the slow disappearance of the person you knew. Grief does not always wait for a death to begin. ## Grieving Someone Who Is Still Here With dementia especially, the losses arrive in installments. They stop recognizing a name. They stop telling the story they always told. Each one is a small death that nobody holds a service for. With terminal illness, you can find yourself living in two timelines at once, present for today while quietly rehearsing a future without them. That doubling is exhausting, and it is often mistaken for coldness. It is not coldness. It is what love does when it is bracing. ## Caregiving While You Mourn The practical load is relentless. Medications, appointments, insurance calls, meals, transfers, the never-ending question of whether you are doing enough. There is rarely space in that schedule for your own feelings, so they get postponed. Then they arrive at 2am, or as irritability at people who did nothing wrong, or as a body that keeps getting sick. Therapy becomes one hour that is not about their care. We work on the grief, the resentment, the fear, and on what you actually need to stay standing. ## The Guilt of Relief At some point you may catch yourself hoping it will be over soon. Not for them, or not only for them. For you. That thought terrifies people, and they almost never say it out loud. It is one of the most common things I hear in this work, and it does not mean what you are afraid it means. You can love someone completely and be depleted by their illness. We make room for both without turning either one into evidence against you. ## Related Reading - [Complex Grief Read more → ](/therapy-for/complex-grief) - [Losing a Parent Read more → ](/therapy-for/losing-a-parent) - [Burnout Read more → ](/therapy-for/burnout) Sharon Meyers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker offering telehealth sessions to adults located anywhere in California. In Case of Emergency This website is for informational purposes only. This practice is not a crisis service. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please do not wait for a reply. - Call [911](tel:911) or go to your nearest emergency room if you are in immediate danger. - Call or text [988](tel:988) to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. - Text HOME to [741741](sms:741741) to reach the Crisis Text Line. ## You can start grieving before the ending. Schedule a free consultation to talk about where you are. [Schedule a Free Consultation](/begin-here) ### Sharon Meyers Therapy LCSW #106887 Online therapy throughout California Office located in Berkeley, CA Quick Links - [Home](/) - [About](/about) - [Specialties](/specialties) - [FAQ](/faq) - [Blog](/blog) - [Contact](/begin-here) - [Therapy For](/therapy-for) - [Online Therapy](/online-therapy) - [Guides](/guides) Contact - [(415) 335-7446](tel:4153357446) - [sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com](mailto:sharon@sharonmeyerstherapy.com) [Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/sharon-meyers-berkeley-ca/1080260) **In case of emergency:** call or text [988](tel:988) or go to your nearest emergency room. This website is for informational purposes only. [Privacy Policy](/privacy)· [Good Faith Estimate](/good-faith-estimate)· [Notice to Clients](/notice-to-clients) © 2026 Sharon Meyers Therapy · LCSW #106887