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Reach out through our website or by phone. We verify your coverage and connect you with the right therapist.
Grief & loss
Losing a spouse, a sibling, a friend changes everything.
After a lifetime together, or a lifetime of friendship, grief in later life is different. The house feels quieter. Sundays feel longer. You don't have to walk through it alone. Total Life therapists specialize in supporting older adults through grief. Covered by Medicare. By phone or video. From home.
Lily is Total Life's AI wellness coach, here for everyday support and answers. She is not a medical provider and does not replace therapy.
Medicare-covered
Covered by Medicare and most major plans
You're not alone
What grief can feel like in later life.
- The house feels too quiet, even with the TV on.
- Holidays, anniversaries, and shared rituals hit harder than expected.
- Friends mean well, but you don't have the words to explain it.
- You keep wanting to tell them something, then remember.
- Mail in their name still arrives.
- Sleep is broken, or you sleep too much.
- You can be fine all day and undone by a song at 4pm.
- You're not sure if what you're feeling is normal, or if it's been too long.
These are common experiences, not a diagnostic checklist. A licensed therapist can help you understand what you're feeling without rushing to label it.
Why this is different after 65
Why grief looks different after 65.
By later life, most people have lived through multiple losses: a parent, a sibling, a friend, sometimes a spouse. The losses stack, and the people who would have helped you through earlier griefs may not be here anymore. This is the kind of grief that doesn't follow a timeline, and the kind that often goes unspoken because everyone assumes you've been through it before. You don't have to know the right words. You just need someone trained to listen.
5.7M
U.S. older adults are widowed
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022
12 months+
Average duration of intense grief in older adults
Source: Center for Complicated Grief, Columbia University
~7%
Develop prolonged grief disorder, which therapy can support
Source: American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
How therapy helps
How therapy supports you with grief & loss.
Listen without trying to fix
Grief doesn't need a solution. A licensed therapist who specializes in older adults gives you the time and space to say what you haven't been able to say out loud.
Make sense of the kinds of grief
Anticipatory grief, complicated grief, ambiguous loss. Naming what you're feeling is often the first step toward feeling less alone in it.
Rebuild the shape of a week
When a person leaves, the routines that organized your life leave with them. Therapy helps you find the new shape, one Sunday at a time.
How It Works
Getting started is simple.
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Find Your Match
After a short conversation about your needs, we recommend an experienced counselor and schedule your first session.
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Start Your Journey
On the scheduled date, your therapist reaches out by phone or video, and you begin working through what matters to you.
Why Total Life
Total Life vs. in-person therapy
| Total Life | In-person | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Matched with a therapist within 24 hours | Often weeks on a waitlist |
| Where you meet | From home, by phone or video | Drive to an office |
| Specialization | Therapists who focus on adults 65+ | General practice, varies |
| Medicare | Covered by Medicare; most members pay $0 | May be out of network |
| Scheduling | Flexible times that fit your week | Limited office hours |
| Comfort | Talk from your own home | An unfamiliar waiting room |
All 50
States served
200+
Licensed providers
6+
Insurances accepted, plus Medicare
Meet Our Providers
Licensed therapists who specialize in older adults.
TA
Dr. Tanya Alonso
Licensed Psychologist
Licensed in your state, with a master's-level education or higher and specialized training in the mental health of older adults.
IR
Dr. Ian Rivera
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Licensed in your state, with a master's-level education or higher and specialized training in the mental health of older adults.
PV
Dr. Preeti Vidwans
Licensed Psychologist
Licensed in your state, with a master's-level education or higher and specialized training in the mental health of older adults.
Why Our Clients Choose Total Life
Total Life has served over 10,000 adults and led over 100,000 sessions.
92% of members stay with their assigned therapist.
Dr. Tim Calvin has been a God Send. He is a kind, gentle and humorous man.
Read Reynold’s full storyShow less
Dear Total Life. Thank you for your wonderful service of therapy for the elderly. I had been searching for some time for therapy services for the elderly. I kept running into roadblocks until I ran across Total Life on the internet.
I had been an MSW/LCSW for 54 years and a BSW for 11 years before that. Yes, I will be 87 a few days from now. I just fully retired on March 31, 2026. I found myself drifting in the middle of Lake Michigan for some months until I found Total Life and realized there was a group of therapists reaching out to Medicare patients.
I was really fortunate I had not found someone before Total Life. I have been working on Erikson’s last stage of life and addressing the new life situations that “old age” has brought knocking. I find this a more pleasant experience compared to earlier therapy addressing the traumas and problems of growing up, plus the stress of relationships, children, addiction, financial, education and work.
A giant “THUMBS UP” for Total Life and Tim (Dr. Calvin).
Reynold Wolter
Total Life member · Working with Dr. Tim Calvin · MSW/LCSW (retired, 54 years) · Age 87
What Members Experience
Progress, session by session.
3
After three sessions
After three sessions a majority of clients have hope that their situation is improving.
6
After six sessions
After six sessions a majority of clients have reflected that actual change occurred.
Take the first step. We'll do the rest.
Covered by Medicare. Most members are matched with a therapist within 24 hours.
Common questions
Questions older adults ask about grief & loss.
How long does grief usually last for older adults?+
There is no fixed timeline. Many older adults find that the first year brings the hardest holidays and anniversaries, and the second year brings the deeper questions about who they are now. Most members say therapy helps them stop measuring themselves against a calendar.
Is it normal to still feel grief years after a loss?+
Yes. Grief in later life doesn't end; it changes shape. Many older adults describe waves of grief that surface around birthdays, anniversaries, and seasons even decades later. Therapy can help when those waves start interfering with daily life or sleep.
What's the difference between grief and depression?+
They can look similar, but grief is usually focused on the person or thing lost, while depression is broader and often without a clear cause. Many older adults experience both at once. A licensed therapist can help you understand what you're feeling without rushing to label it.
My friends say I should be over it by now. Is that true?+
No. Grief in later life often outlasts the people around you. Most older Total Life members tell us their hardest grief work started after the cards stopped arriving, when the world expected them to be fine. Therapy is a place where you don't have to perform being fine.
Can therapy help even if I don't cry?+
Yes. Many older adults grieve quietly. They sleep less, they lose interest in things they used to love, they become irritable with people they care about. Tears are not a requirement for grief, or for therapy to help.
I'm grieving a sibling, a friend, or a pet. Is therapy for me?+
Yes. Total Life therapists support older adults through every kind of loss, including the kinds that don't always get acknowledged: a sibling who knew your whole life story, a friend you'd known since childhood, a pet who was the steady company. Loss is loss.
What if I feel angry instead of sad?+
Anger is one of the most common, and most misunderstood, parts of grief in older adults. It can show up as irritability with family, frustration with the medical system, or a short fuse with strangers. Therapy helps you understand where the anger is pointing, without judgment.
Does grief therapy help with the holidays?+
Yes. Many older adults begin therapy in November or December because the holiday season makes loss feel sharper. Therapists can help you prepare for which traditions to keep, which to let go, and which to reshape, before the calendar gets there.
Is grief therapy covered by Medicare?+
Yes. Total Life is a Medicare provider, and behavioral health sessions, including grief work, are covered as a Part B benefit. Original Medicare covers 80%, and most members with supplemental insurance pay $0.
Total Life is a Medicare provider. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of Medicare or any government agency.