The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life as we know it in countless ways. One particularly difficult change is its impact on the way we mourn the loss of loved ones.

The spread of the novel coronavirus and associated social distancing has made it so that people are unable to grieve their loved ones in the traditional ways, through funerals and family gatherings, Becky Stuempfig , a licensed marriage and family therapist in Encinitas, California, told HuffPost. Without this element of face-to-face support and left alone in quarantine, people experiencing losses whether coronavirus-related or not may suffer more due to isolation.

Due to stay-at-home orders, many people in mourning are feeling more loneliness than they would have under typical circumstances. Usually the bereaved experience an outpouring of love and support in the form of hugs, home-cooked meals, house visits, help with childcare, flower deliveries and invitations to social gatherings and outings.

All of those methods of supporting someone in grief that are so ingrained in our society are simply no longer an option, so we find ourselves in uncharted territory on a micro and macro level, Stuempfig explained.

People may be more likely to stay in the denial stage of grief for a longer period of time when they do not see other people grieving the deceased individual, she continued. The psyche has a hard time comprehending death as it is, and when people are not physically surrounded by others trying to make sense of the loss, it is even more difficult to understand, and eventually accept, that their loved one is no longer alive.

On top of it all, people are experiencing grief in the midst of a global crisis that brings additional losses beyond the death of a loved one the loss of a job, savings, sense of identity and more. Its also unclear when traditional funerals will be an option in the future.

But that doesnt mean its impossible to process your grief and move forward in this uncertain time. HuffPost asked Stuempfig and other experts to share healthy ways people can grieve a lost loved one during this pandemic.