I thought I was OK after losing my dad. Then I collapsed in the kitchen and realised I’d been resisting the real pain.
About Moving Forward After Loss
Grief doesn't move in linear stages. It comes and goes, leaves you exhausted, confused, and fills days with random admin. Some days are light and nostalgic. Others are heavy, cold, and grey.
After my dad died during COVID, my therapeutic coaching and corporate day job contracts ended a month later.
Overwhelmed by so many endings, I dropped out of life for six months and survived off savings.
Drifting. Hurt. Lost. Everything seemed pointless.
Grief counselling and creative expression helped me heal enough to wake up.
Barely coping isn’t living
But when I eventually started a new job, I dived into control mode: overworked, shrank my world, kept everything neat and busy so it all seemed stable.
I ran global meetings, negotiated commercial contracts, and then navigated gnarly office politics but busyness, people-pleasing, and perfectionism got louder.
I’d cry in the gaps, crash at weekends, and avoid fun and positive experiences because I didn't feel worthy or felt guilty for enjoying myself.
Yep, I was highly functional but burnt out.
Parent loss, whether close, anticipatory or complicated, seeps into everything. Into mornings, decisions, relationships, hopes and dreams, or the way you see yourself.
People check you're fine at first, but expect you're “OK” before your mind, body, and soul agree.
So you hide how you really feel and call it coping. I did too but I wasn’t.
What I realised
I knew something wasn’t right leading up to the second anniversary of my dad’s death, when on a random Sunday afternoon, the grief wave hit me hard.
I collapsed to my knees in the kitchen and cried for hours on and off. That ugly sobbing you don’t want anyone else to see.
I was still struggling but avoiding the real, deep pain I needed to feel.
Complicated or prolonged grief isn't talked about enough. Where the yearning for what you've lost doesn't shift.
There wasn’t a map for the long, messy grief processing I needed, so I started creating one that fits real lives.
Small, repeatable steps. Ordinary rituals. Evidence-based info that actually helps and makes sense of the pain and confusion.
Creative practices when words are out of reach. Body-based tools to heal stress-related damage.
You can move forward after loss without pretending you’re fine.
Keep what matters close and let the rest loosen.
What you’ll find here
In Moving Forward After Loss, I write about the various aspects of grief, bereavement, and embracing loss through:
Real stories from life after parent loss, including estrangement and anticipatory loss, and the double grief that comes with both.
The science of grief like how a predictive brain relearns a world that has changed, plus useful models of grief and insights from research and what they mean for daily life.
Healing practices you can try when you’re ready. Small, practical, repeatable. Based on real life and evidence.
My approach
Everything sits on my evidence-based Adaptive Resilience System (ARS), a six-pillar framework I developed over years to explore and implement what builds resilience across mindset, emotion, energy, habits, self-leadership and growth.
My Signature ANCHOR approach turns that into action to heal grief: Aim, Notice, Calm, Hold, Outline, Rebuild through small reflections and steps that stick or adapt.
Over here, ARS is the map. ANCHOR is the route you take to move forward after loss.
Who is this for?
This space is for sensitive over-givers who carry a lot for others but want clear, compassionate and data-backed support that respects their background, capacity and pace.
Whether you miss them deeply, don’t know how to grieve a complicated bond, or feel stuck months or years on, you’re welcome here.
You don’t have to walk this path alone.
How It Works
Free
Weekly articles rotating with a real story, some science, or one small practice you can actually do on a busy week. No stages. No fluff.
Paid
One Quiet Anchor Kit each month (short audio plus a printable for heavy or curious days)
A monthly AMA (ask me anything) in the chat for awkward, complicated questions
A short behind-the-scenes note on what I tested, what helped or didn’t, and how to use tips when you’re exhausted, low or anxious
Member pricing on the Quarterly Creative Grief Session or other workshops (ticketed separately)
The point isn’t to get overwhelmed with solutions or info.
It’s to use what helps and repeat what works. You can start free and upgrade any time.
Moving forward after loss is about steadier days, not busier ones.
Work with me
Navigating Grief with Compassion: I’m creating this on-demand workshop (4 short lessons), which offers a calm foundation for navigating grief with clear guidance and more compassion without the self-judgement.
Embracing Life After Loss: I’m offering 1:1 coaching across three months (six 60-min sessions). Gentle, structured support to honour your bond, or make sense of a complicated one, and shape a life that fits who and where you are now and in the future.
Not sure where to start? Reply to any email or comment and share where you’re stuck. I read every one.
This space is for people carrying grief through busy days who still want a life they recognise.
If you’d like to feel seen, practical help and kind company, you’re in the right place.
Moving forward, together.
Sabrina
