Grief & Loss Therapy · New York

Grief & Loss Therapy in New York City

I help adults in New York carry grief and loss — not by rushing you past the pain, but by honoring it, making meaning of it, and helping you move forward in a way that stays true to what matters to you.

I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) offering private, in-person grief therapy on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and online across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) · New York

At a Glance

Grief & loss therapy — scope at a glance

Who it's for

Adults (18+) navigating grief or loss

What it helps with

Bereavement · life transitions · loss of many kinds

How I work

Meaning-centered · values-based · gentle

Where I'm licensed

New York (in person + online)

Format

Private, by referral & inquiry

i. · What Grief Really Is

Grief isn't only about death. It's about everything that mattered.

Yes, grief follows the death of someone we love. But it also follows the end of a relationship, a career or identity, a home, a friendship, an imagined future, or a version of yourself you’re no longer able to be. Loss is loss, and it deserves to be taken seriously.

There’s no timeline and no ‘right’ way to grieve. It comes in waves. You don’t have to be ‘over it’ by now, and you don’t have to carry it alone.

ii. · The Many Forms of Grief

Grief takes more shapes than we're taught to expect.

Naming the kind of grief you’re carrying can be its own quiet relief. Some of the forms this work addresses:

Anticipatory grief

Grieving a loss before it happens — often during a terminal illness or a slow decline, for the person and for the life you expected.

Complicated / prolonged grief

When grief stays intense and immobilizing for a long time, making it hard to function or move forward.

Disenfranchised grief

Loss that others don’t recognize or validate — a miscarriage, an ex-partner, a pet, an estrangement, an addiction.

Ambiguous loss

Grief without closure — a loved one physically present but changed by illness, or absent without resolution.

Delayed grief

Grief that surfaces long after the loss, sometimes triggered by a later event, once it finally feels safe to feel it.

Life-transition loss

The grief inside big changes — divorce, career shifts, empty nests, aging, or losing an identity you built your life around.

iii. · How I Work

Honoring the loss. Making meaning. Moving forward on your terms.

I don’t believe grief is a problem to be solved or a set of stages to march through. My work honors your pain rather than rushing you past it — we make meaning of the loss, and, when you’re ready, we look at how to move forward in a way that acts in accordance with your values rather than around a hole. That’s drawn from meaning-centered and acceptance-based approaches, supported by the emotional-regulation tools of DBT for the waves that feel unbearable. And, as always, I’ll gently reflect back what I’m noticing, so you’re never doing this alone.

iv. · Is This For You?

Who this work is for.

This work is for adults living with a loss that’s still weighing on them — whether it’s recent or years old, a death or another kind of ending. Much of my practice is high-functioning, visible people who look composed to the world while privately carrying grief they’ve had no space to feel. If you need somewhere discreet and honest to set it down, we’ll likely be a good fit.

Grief can sometimes bring thoughts of not wanting to go on. If that’s where you are, please reach out now — call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or dial 911. You deserve support, and this practice, being outpatient, isn’t monitored for emergencies.

v. · In Their Words

From people I've worked with.

Anonymized and shared with permission, out of respect for privacy.

She let me grieve without a clock on it. For the first time, I felt like my loss was allowed to be as big as it actually was.

I came in thinking I should be 'over it' by now. She helped me see there was never a deadline — only a way through.

It wasn't a death, but it was a loss, and she treated it that way. That alone changed everything for me.

She helped me carry it in a way that honored what I'd lost instead of pretending it never happened.

Discreet and deeply kind. She understood the loss beneath a life that looked, to everyone else, completely fine.

Your Therapist

Nicole Trister, LCSW

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) · New York

I’m a New York psychotherapist offering concierge individual and couples therapy for high-functioning, high-profile clients. My work is meaning-centered and values-based, drawing on acceptance-based approaches and DBT for emotion regulation. As a former competitive gymnast and a lifelong runner, I understand first-hand that having it together doesn’t mean not needing help — and I’m willing to hold up an honest mirror, which is why my clients tend to stay with me for years.

My credentials & focus: LCSW (New York) · Grief & loss · individual & couples therapy · meaning-centered & values-based work · DBT · In person at 276 Fifth Avenue, New York, and online across NY, NJ & CT.

Connect

Full bio →

vi. · Questions

Grief & loss therapy in New York — FAQ

How do I know if this type of anxiety therapy is right for me?

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How do I know if this type of anxiety therapy is right for me?

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How do I know if this type of anxiety therapy is right for me?

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When you're ready to set some of the weight down, I'm here.

Consultations are held privately and by inquiry. There is no waiting room, and no obligation.