What is Medical Mental Health? How Does it Relate to Grief Counseling in Seattle?
Image from Unsplash by Anton 2/24/25
‘Medical mental health’ is a phrase that encompasses work with a variety of clients and concerns. Medical mental health clients are typically impacted by a medical condition in one way or another. That could be individuals dealing with an acute or chronic health issue(s) that leads to psychological difficulties, a family member or friend coping with an acute or chronic illness, or perhaps a primary caregiver. Medical mental health includes working with clients who’ve had negative experiences with the healthcare system, including experiences of racism, misogyny, and anti-fat bias. Medical mental health can also include working with medical providers (doctors, nurses, physical therapists, mental health therapists) due to difficult work environments, burnout, secondary trauma, and more. Like the other specialties in my practice, medical mental health is inherently relational. You exist within multiple systems. On the more micro side, you exist within a physical/body system where different parts and systems work together to keep you living your daily life. You exist within systems of friends and family, communities big and small, including being a citizen of the world and part of humanity. The intersectionality of your identity directly impacts your experience of being in a body and language, norms, and actions around how you interact with that body and the world around you. Being able to better manage your mental health can help you better manage your physical health and relationships.
Examples of the Intersection of Medical Mental Health and Grief Counseling in Seattle
Grief counseling doesn’t only deal with death. Grief is a result of change. The term grief can encompass a whole host of emotions, including rage, anger, sadness, frustration, peace, relief, heartbreak, and more. The following examples shed light on the role that grief counseling plays within medical mental health.
Clients Impacted by an Acute or Chronic Illness:
This category could most likely be broken up into a hundred different categories because everyone’s experience is so unique. For many people, accessing good healthcare is a dream, others struggle to get an accurate diagnosis. Other people may have what society deems as a more ‘worthy’ diagnosis like cancer, versus a more stigmatized disease like AIDS. Coping with an acute or chronic illness deeply changes your life and the need to process grief related to expectations, hopes, and dreams is vital in learning to live a valued life.
Processing an Initial Diagnosis:
First experiencing symptoms of an injury or illness can be jarring. Working on creating space for this new reality takes time. Grieving the unjust nature of health is vital in working towards making choices that work for you.
Change in Abilities:
Both acute and chronic issues may change your body’s abilities over time or in a blink of an eye. Grieving your past abilities and making space for your new or ever-changing reality is important. This includes the need to promote safety within your body. Sometimes identifying inner resources that you never thought of is part of this work.
Clients Facing an Upcoming Procedure or Surgery:
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Often clients facing an upcoming surgery or procedure experiences a lot of stress and anxiety. Part of working on this might be grieving the person they perceived themselves to be, especially in relationship to other people. It might also be processing a new reality that exists after the procedure.
Loss Amid Interaction with the Medical System:
When people are experiencing the death of a loved one, often there is interaction with the medical system alongside it. Whether it was the loss of an elderly parent fighting a year’s long battle with dementia, the sudden death of a young adult in a car crash, or a couple experiencing a still birth, all these examples would have the family interacting with the medical system. Witnessing and understanding peoples’ experiences within this complex environment can be an important part of grief work.
Caregiving:
Caregiving is extremely challenging work. Paid or not, it takes its toll physically, emotionally, and mentally. Not only does the person have to grieve their previous freedom (pre-caregiving) but they are most likely seeing a loved one deteriorate. This can lead to isolation, burnout, and depression.
Friend or Family Member Dealing with a Health Issue:
Maybe you aren’t the one with the illness or injury and it’s happening to someone you love. There can still be a vast amount of mental, emotional, and physical energy spent over dealing with another person’s health issue. Depending on your relationship and your role, you may be grieving the loss of the other person’s abilities, your role, or struggle to find balance in prioritizing yourself and the other person.
Change in Roles:
As referenced in earlier examples, health challenges often impact the roles people have in their lives. Nothing is more extreme than that as when a provider becomes a patient. When a medical provider like a doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, or physical therapist is put in the position of the patient, it can jar the person’s sense of self and view of their work. Processing new experiences and information is an important part of grief work.
Anti-Fat Bias:
Unfortunately for folks in larger bodies, there still exists a vast amount of anti-fat bias within the entire culture, but especially in the medical field. You came into the doctor to get relief from flu symptoms and instead got a whole lecture on losing weight and many didn’t even get the care you came in for initially. Rage, sadness, and grief can all be responses to a perceived injustice and being treated differently, not getting the care you need, and consistently getting pelted with misinformation is the definition of injustice. Facing anti-fat bias within the medical system can compound existing mental and physical challenges faced by patients.
Medical Misogyny:
Medical misogyny refers to the sub-par treatment of women within the medical community. Too often, the structural misogyny experienced by women in the medical field negatively impacts their care by not being heard, believed, or not having accurate health information to be treated properly. Women of color experience the most negative impact, dying at higher rates than their white counterparts. Facing these difficult realities are challenges my clients face in real time. All kinds of emotions can arise including grief, rage, sadness and more. Therapy is place to explore all of these and know that your experiences are valid.
Perinatal Mental Health:
Image from Unsplash by Dario Valenzuela 2/24/25
Perinatal mental health is the ultimate intersection of reproductive justice, mental health advocacy, and the fight against medical bias. For many birthing people, the perinatal period will include the highest interaction with the medical system during their entire lives. Unfortunately, the color of your skin, your identified gender and your zip code all directly impact your reproductive health outcomes. Reproductive health is health, both physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. The complex emotional landscape that comes with having a uterus, identifying as a woman, and existing in a world that sees you as a second-class citizen are real and have real impacts. Part of my job is to help you navigate this reality, be a witness and face the complicated emotional landscape that follows.
The Goal of Medical Mental Health and Grief Counseling
Despite living in a society that metaphorically separates the brain and the body, these parts of you are deeply connected and dependent on one another. Much of the grief work related to medical mental health relates to creating space for a different reality than the one you expected or hoped. It’s about helping you learn how to face challenging emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations so that you can face the day. Becoming more psychologically flexible increases your resiliency in facing challenges big and small. Medical mental health impacts your relationships. Learning how to have health boundaries, self- advocate, and exist within wider systems will also help improve your quality of life. If these goals sound like something you want for your life, reach out and schedule a free consultation today. You don’t have to face medical mental health challenges alone, you can work with someone who has years of personal and professional experience in helping people build more resilient lives.
About the Author: Seattle Washington Therapist, Chelsea Kramer LMFT PMH-C
Chelsea Kramer is a Seattle Therapist who works with individual and families facing grief, anxiety, reproductive and medical mental health concerns.
Learn more about Chelsea’s specialties: grief, anxiety, infertility, pregnancy loss, chronic illness, menopause, medical trauma
Learn more about Chelsea
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