Pregnancy Loss & Child Loss Support Therapy in Lisbon

There is no right way to grieve a pregnancy loss or the death of a child, and no timeline anyone should have to apologize for. This page is for parents at any point in that grief — right after a loss, months or years later, or while facing decisions about whether to try again. Nothing here is meant to rush you toward "moving on."

Who this is for

Miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal loss, and the death of a child at any age are different experiences, but they share a grief that is often under-acknowledged by the people around you. This work is for individuals and couples navigating any of them, together or separately.

Grief that doesn't follow a timeline

Research on perinatal loss identifies it as a genuinely traumatic event, and finds that a number of factors — limited social support, existing strain in the relationship, and ambivalence or complicated feelings about the pregnancy — make complicated, longer-lasting grief more likely (Kersting & Wagner, 2012). None of that means anyone is grieving "wrong"; it means some grief needs more support to move through, not less time.

How loss affects the couple relationship

Partners frequently grieve on different timelines and in different ways — one wanting to talk, the other needing quiet; one ready to try again before the other is. Left unaddressed, that mismatch can feel like the other person doesn't care, when really both are grieving, just differently. We help couples understand each other's grief instead of measuring it against their own.

What therapy offers

Space to grieve without being managed or rushed, individually and together; help making sense of a loss that can otherwise feel senseless; and, when it's relevant, support around decisions about trying again — without any pressure toward a particular answer.

If you're not ready to talk about "moving forward"

You don't need to be. Some sessions are simply about being witnessed in grief, with no agenda toward resolution. We follow your pace, not a program.

Books We Recommend

Empty Arms

Sherokee Ilse

A widely used, practical guide for the immediate aftermath of a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death — covering the decisions parents face in the first hours and days, and how grief tends to unfold afterward.

Empty Cradle, Broken Heart

Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D.

A comprehensive companion for perinatal and infant loss, addressing the emotional process, the strain a loss can put on a relationship, and includes a chapter written specifically for grieving fathers.

Support in Lisbon & online

1. Kersting, A., & Wagner, B. (2012). Complicated Grief After Perinatal Loss. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 14(2), 187–194.