7 Los Angeles Grief Counselors [No Waitlist]

Grief doesn’t wait for a convenient time, and neither should your support. Whether you’ve recently lost someone you love, are navigating a major life change, or are carrying a grief you’ve never quite known how to name, you deserve a space that truly gets it. At Yellow Chair Collective, our therapists are here to walk alongside you as you navigate life after loss.

Jump to a therapist

Celia Chen: Good fit for grief tied to trauma or immigration loss
Kony Das: Good fit for anticipatory grief or grieving a relationship or friendship
Jack Lam: Good fit for LGBTQIA+ individuals and those grieving losses tied to identity or family rejection
Razdeep Kaur: Good fit for empaths and highly sensitive people
Sonia Parecadan: Good fit for grief alongside chronic pain or physical health challenges
Phuong Tang: Good fit for family grief
Solji Kim: Good fit for those grieving the loss of a beloved pet

If you’re unsure which therapist is right for your situation, please contact us directly so we can match you.

Meet our Los Angeles grief therapists

Celia Chen, MSW

Good fit for grief tied to trauma or immigration loss

Celia brings a rare combination of clinical expertise and lived understanding to grief work, specializing in the ways loss and trauma often intertwine, including the layered grief that comes with immigration, displacement, and cultural identity.

She is one of the few Los Angeles therapists to have created and facilitated her own grief processing group, giving her hands-on experience in guiding people through grief, not just in individual sessions but in collective healing spaces.

Drawing on EMDR and somatic techniques alongside a trauma-informed lens, Celia helps clients move through grief at their own pace—honoring what was lost while gently opening a path toward what can still be.

Credentials: Associate Social Worker #123774
Specialty Areas: Grief and Loss, Anger Management, Anxiety and Stress, EMDR, Trauma, Highly Sensitive People and Empaths

Kony Das, MSW

Good fit for anticipatory grief or grieving a relationship or friendship

Kony understands that grief isn’t only about death; it shows up in the end of a relationship, a friendship, a phase of life, or even a version of yourself you thought you knew. With a background in neuroscience and psychobiology, she brings a distinctly science-informed lens to grief work, helping clients understand what’s actually happening in their brain and body when loss hits and why their reactions make complete sense. Kony creates a space where ambivalence and complexity are warmly embraced as part of the grieving process.

Credentials: Associate Clinical Social Worker #124991
Specialty Areas: Grief and Loss, Anxiety and Stress, Body Image and Disordered Eating, Neurodivergent Affirmative Care, Trauma and PTSD

Jack Lam, LCSW

Good fit for LGBTQIA+ individuals and those grieving losses tied to identity or family rejection

Jack is one of the very few Los Angeles grief therapists who specifically centers the experience of LGBTQIA+ clients—and who brings their own lived understanding to it. As a genderqueer, non-binary Chinese Malaysian immigrant, Jack knows firsthand what it means to grieve losses that aren’t always recognized by others: the loss of family acceptance, the grief of living inauthentically for years, or mourning a community you never fully felt part of. This makes Jack a uniquely equipped therapist for clients whose grief is bound up in identity, whether that’s losing a chosen family member, processing estrangement, or grieving the life they might have lived.

Credentials: Licensed Clinical Social Worker #127527
Specialty Areas: Grief and Loss, LGBTQIA+ Community, Anxiety and Stress, Teens, Trauma and PTSD

Razdeep Kaur, MSW

Good fit for empaths and highly sensitive people

Razdeep offers something rare: a therapeutic space that honors not just the psychological dimensions of grief, but the spiritual and energetic ones, too. She weaves together evidence-based approaches with ancestral healing practices—including mindfulness, somatic work, meditation, and grounding—to offer a holistic container for grief that many traditional therapists simply don’t provide. Razdeep specializes in working with highly sensitive people and empaths who feel grief profoundly, often struggling to separate their own pain from the pain of those around them.

Credentials: Associate Clinical Social Worker #112680
Specialty Areas: Grief and Loss, Sensitive Feelers and Empaths, Anxiety and Stress, Asian and South Asian American Experience, EMDR

Sonia Parecadan, MSW

Good fit for grief alongside chronic pain or physical health challenges

Sonia is one of the only Los Angeles grief therapists with a specialized focus on the intersection of grief, loss, chronic pain, and body image. Whether you’re processing a loss while also managing a chronic condition, or grieving the body you once had, Sonia’s integrative approach offers support that’s both grounded and genuinely holistic. Clients consistently describe her as easygoing, inquisitive, and easy to open up to, making her a particularly strong fit for those who haven’t always felt understood.

Credentials: Associate Social Worker #330341
Specialty Areas: Grief and Loss, Chronic Pain and Body Image, Adult ADHD, Anxiety and Stress, Creatives and Highly Sensitive People, LGBTQIA+ Community

Phuong Tang, LCSW

Good fit for family grief

When a family loses someone, grief rarely moves through everyone the same way. In multicultural and immigrant families, those differences can be especially pronounced, shaped by culture, language, generation, and what was never said out loud. Phuong is one of the few Los Angeles grief therapists with the background to hold that complexity with real depth. As a Vietnamese refugee, a clinical social worker with nearly two decades of experience, and a therapist who earned dual master’s degrees in both Asian American Studies and Social Work, she understands how family grief can widen the distance between people who love each other and how the right support can help families find a shared language for loss, even when their experiences of it differ.

Credentials: Licensed Clinical Social Worker #27966
Specialty Areas: Grief and Loss, Trauma and PTSD, BIPOC and Asian American Experience, ADHD, Neurodivergence, Anxiety and Stress, Depression, EMDR

Solji Kim, MA

Good fit for those grieving the loss of a beloved pet

Solji is one of the few therapists in the Los Angeles area who explicitly specializes in pet loss: a form of grief that is deeply real, yet often minimized or dismissed, particularly in many Asian communities. As a Korean American immigrant, mother, and self-described cat lover, Solji brings a warmth and personal authenticity to this work that makes her a genuinely one-of-a-kind choice for this type of loss. Beyond pet loss, her background as a military spouse gives her a particular sensitivity to grief associated with major life transitions, relocations, and the losses that come with constant change.

Credentials: Associate Professional Clinical Counselor #14113
Specialty Areas: Grief and Pet Loss, Trauma and PTSD, EMDR, Addiction, Pregnancy and Postpartum, BIPOC Experience, LGBTQIA+ Community, ADHD

What sets our practice apart from other Los Angeles grief counseling providers

At Yellow Chair Collective, we believe grief care should honor your whole story, not just your symptoms. Here’s what makes us a different kind of grief counseling practice in Los Angeles:

Culturally responsive care: Our therapists are trained in and personally understand the unique ways grief shows up across different cultural backgrounds, including Asian American, immigrant, and multicultural experiences.
No waitlist: You shouldn’t have to wait weeks to start healing. We have therapists accepting new clients now.
A wide range of grief specialties: We have therapists who specialize in the full spectrum of grief experiences, from pet loss and anticipatory grief to collective loss and grief intertwined with trauma.
Multiple modalities: Our team uses EMDR, somatic therapy, narrative therapy, CBT, ACT, and more so your care can be tailored to what actually works for you.
Insurance accepted: Several of our therapists accept Aetna, Cigna, Anthem Blue Cross, and United Healthcare/Optum to make grief support as accessible as possible.
Hybrid care: We offer both online therapy across California and limited in-person availability in Los Angeles County.

FAQs about grief counseling

What kind of therapist is best for grief?

There’s not just one “best” kind of therapist for grief. What matters most is finding someone who is trained in grief-specific approaches, who makes you feel genuinely heard, and whose style fits how you process emotions. Some people benefit from EMDR or somatic therapy; others do well with narrative or cognitive approaches. The therapeutic relationship itself is often the most healing part.

What are the stages of grief?

The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. They were originally developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and they can offer a helpful framework, but keep in mind that grief rarely moves in a straight line. Most people move between stages, skip some entirely, or revisit them over time. There’s no right or wrong way to grieve, and no timeline you’re supposed to meet.

How can grief counseling help me?

Grief counseling gives you a dedicated space to feel the full weight of your loss without judgment and to begin making sense of it. A therapist can help you identify and process complicated emotions, develop healthy coping strategies, navigate the practical and relational changes that often follow loss, and move forward when you’re ready, at your own pace.

What kind of losses can you help me with?

We support clients through all kinds of loss: the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship or marriage, pregnancy loss, pet loss, anticipatory grief, collective or community grief, loss of identity, and grief tied to major life transitions. If something that mattered to you is gone, your grief deserves attention.

Do you offer grief support groups?

We offer a rotating range of support groups, and many of them are on grief-related topics. Visit our support groups page to learn more about our current offerings.

How soon after a loss should I start grief counseling?

There’s no perfect timing. Some people find it helpful to start therapy soon after a loss, while others come months or even years later when grief begins to surface in unexpected ways. You don’t have to be in crisis to start. If your grief is affecting your daily life, your relationships, or your sense of self, it’s a good time to reach out.

Is grief therapy covered by health insurance?

Yes, grief therapy is often covered by insurance. Many of our therapists accept major insurance plans, though coverage for therapy varies by plan, so it’s worth checking your benefits directly. For plans we’re not in-network with, some therapists can provide a superbill for potential reimbursement.