Helen Hofman, a licensed mental health counselor with Seattle Christian Counseling, says that although funeral preparations and burial arrangements can keep you busy, loneliness usually hits hardest in the weeks following the service. “Grieving involves different processes and tasks, but these are not sequential or completed in a linear way,” Hofman says. “Whether one is conscious of these processes or not . . . family, friends, and other support systems, such as church relationships and social groups, are needed to help the bereaved.”