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Begin Your Path to Healing with Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center
Grief happens when we experience loss, change, or the ending of something meaningful. While people often associate grief only with death, many life experiences can cause it. The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness team has years of professional experience working with individuals, families, and couples in Arlington Heights (over 20+ years according to their history). Experienced clinicians can better recognize complicated grief and guide healing effectively.
Our therapy often incorporates well-established methods, including individual counseling and specialized approaches (like EMDR for trauma in related contexts), which can be helpful when grief involves traumatic or complicated loss. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, our model looks at how grief affects relationships, everyday functioning, self-identity, and coping skills…helping clients rebuild meaning and connections in life.
Death of a spouse, partner, child, parent, family member, or friend
Anticipatory grief when a loved one is terminally ill
Suicide or sudden, traumatic death
Divorce or separation
Breakup of a long-term or meaningful relationship
Estrangement from family members
Loss of a close friendship
Personal diagnosis of a serious or chronic illness
Loss of physical ability, mobility, or independence
Mental health diagnosis or changes in cognitive function
Caring for someone whose health is declining (caregiver grief)
LISTEN TO MURWEEN ROSE, LPC, TALK ABOUT HOW THERAPY CAN HELP WITH ANYONE DEALING WITH GRIEF
VIEW MURWEEN’S BIO
CALL: (847) 253-9769
Job loss or a major career change can trigger real grief because work is tied to much more than a paycheck. You’re not just losing a role, you’re often losing a sense of identity, stability, and future direction
Retirement can cause grief because it’s a major life transition that involves multiple losses at once, even when it’s planned for or long-awaited. Many people are surprised by how emotional it feels
Loss of purpose or identity
When kids leave home whether for college, work, military service, or their own families, it can trigger a very real form of grief often called empty nest grief. Even though this transition is natural and healthy, it still involves meaningful losses
Aging and loss of youth or vitality
Miscarriage and stillbirth cause profound grief because they involve the sudden loss of a child—a deeply anticipated life that never fully arrives. The grief is complex, layered, and often misunderstood, even though it’s completely valid
Infertility
Loss of a pregnancy plan or expectations around parenthood
Moving or relocation
Loss of home due to disaster or foreclosure
Immigration or displacement can trigger deep grief because it often involves losing multiple layers of home, identity, and community at once. Even when the move is voluntary, leaving behind the familiar can feel like a profound loss
Major life disruptions (pandemic, war, community trauma)
The death of a pet can cause real, intense grief because pets are more than animals—they are family, companions, and emotional anchors. People often underestimate how deeply this loss affects us, but it can mirror the grief of losing a human loved one
Rehoming a pet due to circumstances
Grieving for someone who is still physically alive but changed by illness, injury, or addiction is often called “anticipatory grief” or “ambiguous loss.” It’s complex because you’re mourning the person as you knew them, even while they are still present. This grief is very real and can be emotionally exhausting
Loss that others minimize or don’t acknowledge
Grief over unmet dreams is a subtle but very real type of loss. It’s sometimes called “existential grief” or “grieving the life you imagined.” Unlike other grief, there’s no person or thing physically lost—yet the emotional pain can be just as intense
Grief over abuse or neglect is a profound and often complicated type of grief because it involves the loss of safety, trust, and a sense of being valued, not just a person or experience. Even if the abuser or neglecter is still alive, the harm can leave lasting emotional wounds, and grieving is a key part of healing
Witnessing violence or tragedy
Survivor’s guilt
Grief is not linear—it comes in waves.
There is no timeline for grief.
Two people can experience the same loss very differently.
Grief can show up emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
The Complex we are located in is called Arlington Ridge. Once you enter the complex, proceed to the building labeled 3205. You may enter the building through Door C. Once entering the building, proceed down the hall to Suite 112. Please call if you have any questions.
