Grief and Loss Counselling in West Point Grey, BC.

Grief counseling helps people cope with grief and mourning following the loss of a loved one or due to major life changes that trigger feelings of grief (i.e. job loss or divorce). It provides a space for individuals to work through and process the complex emotions surrounding loss. Healthy grieving results in remembering the loss with a newfound sense of peace, rather than searing pain.

Grief and loss leave us feeling distressed and destabilized. Whether your loss is through a break-up, death, or transition, grief can feel constant and heavy. I provide a supportive environment in which to reflect on the impact of your loss, and make sense of what this means for you - your sense of self, and your future. Whether it is the early days of your loss and you are looking for support to anchor you, or you have been struggling with this loss for months or years, we can work together to reconstruct meaning in your life.

Grief work entails the processing of the loss of a person, pet, ability and even an identity. It is a delicate type of therapy that requires sufficient time and space for the healing process to occur. Grief counselling is not a linear process, but occurs in cyclical stages with varying degree's of intensity. I work with grief in a gentle and well-paced manner whereby discussion of the grief as well as ways to process the emotions surrounding the loss are encouraged.

Grief is a personal experience and a place of vulnerability for each individual. I can be a safe place to talk about the different feelings you may be having and also to go through the very painful and challenging grieving process. In a time that very often feels quite alone, you will not be alone. I can help you discover coping tools and ways to get through the difficulties and emotions, all of which are to be expected.

I help clients navigate their loss whether it be from the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or the loss of something important such as a job, a pet, a friendship, or oneself. My approach to helping clients addresses regrets, change, acceptance, anger, and sadness. With people who have lost their loved one, I teach ways of keeping their loved one "alive" and honouring them rather than using traditional approaches of "letting go" and "moving on," which are being shown to be unhelpful and unreasonable for many clients. This fresh perspective helps my clients through a difficult time in their lives while teaching meaningful strategies to use throughout their lives.

Grief can leave you disoriented and staggering. Your loss may recent, or in the past but never mourned. The loss of a person, a relationship, a career, your health, a pet are all serious disconnections. As a therapist, I will accompany you as you face your loss and express all the different emotions you may need to express. These may include sadness, anger, guilt, abandonment, and fear for your future. In time, you can move towards accepting and integrating your loss into the larger narrative of your life. With patient and compassionate support, you can gradually start to live again with enthusiasm.

Grief is not only about losing a loved one . It’s about losing anything that is meaningful to us . Over time , we have developed an attachment with these important parts .Losing these parts leaves us with an insecurity. Through the therapy , we learn to see these parts , explore the needs that are left unmet and learn how to live while grieving.

When dealing with grief and loss, successful results come from processing grief in a healthy manner and moving through to a place of feeling more settled. With my approaches of both EMDR & Neurofeedback (NFB), the brain is supported in a healthy manner to best allow the processing of loss and allow healing to take place. With NFB, neural connections are enhanced, affecting the Central Nervous System in a natural way to get the brain and body to be at its best. Once the brain training is completed, the effects last and the client is able to move forward in a settled fashion. With EMDR, clients can quickly decrease the intense and often negative emotional charge that loss brings.

Grief can be a complex journey to navigate. The therapeutic process honours pain while gradually moving toward the acceptance of the reality of loss, integrating hope and adaptation. Our responses to loss vary, and so there are many ways one can cope with it. In therapy, open dialogue is encouraged to help you express and explore your emotions, without judgment. Practical coping skills may be introduced to manage daily challenges, ensuring a balanced approach to rebuilding life with loss.

In my grief counselling practice, I specialize in guiding individuals through the intricate emotions that emerge following the loss of a loved one or a significant life change. I provide a secure and nurturing space where you can openly express your feelings, delve into memories, and address the challenges associated with grief. As your dedicated counsellor, I am committed to fostering a compassionate and understanding environment, supporting you on your journey to healing and finding a path forward.

The death of a loved one can be the most challenging life event we go through. But death is a life stage we all will go through and the life we have led will impact the ones we leave behind. In my 16 years of counselling clients, I have been able to help clients discover the unique gifts and lessons of the one who has died. Learn how you can use these lessons and gifts to manage your grief in a more manageable way. The feelings and thoughts can be scary, uncertain and confusing to deal with, but you can get through the tough times. You have a unique way of grieving and that is okay. Let me help you find your way. Call me now to see what my services can offer you.

Grief and loss is a lonely, isolating and often surreal experience. You may experience stages of anger, negotiation, sadness, and acceptance. Sometimes you just need to cry while being witnessed. This space is here for me to witness all the sadness, emotions, crying, facilitate you holding yourself in compassion instead of criticism and judgment and help you move through the stages toward the other side.

Loss can leave one with a myriad of emotions (feeling overwhelmed, confused, depressed, deeply sad, angry, among others). If left to our own accord, most will eventually begin to feel generally better; however, some lasting emotionality is not uncommon. In other cases, individuals experience a persistent and long-lasting deep sense of loss. In either event, counselling can help individuals to honour the emotionality of grief and loss while reducing the overall effect on their daily living. Ego-State therapy, is particularly well designed for grief and loss interventions, helping individuals to understand the loss, as well as finding and bolstering their own personal coping resources.

Losing a loved one, dealing with a life-changing illness or injury, or experiencing a major life transition can be incredibly difficult to navigate on your own. As a therapist, I am here to provide you with the support and guidance you need to heal and move forward. I believe that everyone's grief journey is unique, and I tailor my approach to meet your individual needs and circumstances. Together, we can explore your emotions and experiences, find ways to cope with your loss, and develop strategies to manage any challenges that arise. Whether you need space to process and grieve, support in adjusting to a new reality, or simply someone to talk to, I am here to help.

ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO MOVE FORWARD AFTER A LOSS OR IS YOUR GRIEF TOO MUCH TO HANDLE ON YOUR OWN? Grief is heartbreaking, and can be overwhelming. The emotions following a significant loss can range from sadness, guilt, anger and fear – and sometimes all of these at once. At the same time, it is not uncommon to also experience numbness and detachment in the aftermath of loss. Overall, people who have experienced a major loss often describe feeling destabilized, unable to concentrate, and unmoored. Loss can change how we see ourselves and the world around us, which leaves us uncertain as to how to move forward. Let's work through the complexities of your grief together.

Do you wake up in the morning and have a wave of sadness wash over you as you remember the pain of your loss? Although bereavement is part of life there are times when the circumstances surrounding a loss of a loved one makes it very difficult to come to terms with. Together we will hold a space that will allow you the opportunity to be comforted and heal.

While grief and transition are a natural part of life, we are still often overwhelmed by sadness, anger and all the confusing emotions that come with loss. There is no right or wrong way to grieve—just your body and mind doing what it can to process the pain of major life change and the loss of how things were. Working with me means compassionate care that helps you to approach and feel your feelings in a safe way, taking things one step at a time. I promise you that all grief can be transformed into a gentle honouring of who or what was lost. I would be happy to team up with you in your journey towards peace and acceptance.

The loss of any relationship can be devastating. Grief for the death of a loved one can go through many phases before we come to accept the loss. In a family system, changes in relationships occur and we often see sides of our families that did not exist prior to the death. Often the end of a relationship can feel like a death and takes time to heal and move forward. Learning about the natural process of healing from Grif and Loss will be helpful in the weeks and months following a loss.

Whatever the loss in your life, we can assist you in recovery and resilience. Loss is experienced differently by everyone and we can hep you move forward through the distress. You do not need to forget or ignore the pain of the experience in order to get the most out of life afterwards. We can help you accept and live with in a way that allows you to move on.

We all deal with loss in our lives, whether through injury, death, or life transitions. However, everyone’s grieving process is unique. I work with you to absorb what has happened, to make sense of the experience, and to explore what it means for you to move ahead. Because loss is a stressful experience, I help you take steps to stay as healthy as possible during the process, in the domains of family, work, and life.

Grief is common to us all, however, how we grieve, is a very individual experience. My focus is in familiarizing you with your process of grieving and helping you reorganize your emotional life with grief as a predominant character. Grief can be alienating, to our former self, as well as to our those closest to us. My role is helping you integrate your grief, as much as we can.

Grief and loss affect everyone in different ways. Your lived experience will be our guide and it is always a privilege and an honour to walk with someone as they navigate and work through these most difficult, and often unexpected, times in life. Together we will find ways to integrate grief and loss into the story of who you are; to remember and cherish, to mourn and yet also find ways to thrive.

Grief is a part of life for which we can never truly prepare, and looks different for everyone. There are many reasons why people experience grief which may be due to the loss of a loved one, loss of a pet, loss of a job to name a few. I provide grief therapy in order to help you understand your grief. I will also help to educate you on the different stages of grief so that you can better understand the process of grieving. Grief and loss counselling assists you in processing grief, working with you to find your new normal in the face of loss.

Each of our lives is touched by grief and loss in personal ways –and- also globally, at times. The process of grieving can be naturally healing and cleansing. But sometimes loss is overwhelming or we simply need some good support for our grieving process. I believe in our natural ability to heal and recover from loss. Support I offer includes: • Understanding you and your unique story • Taking stock of a loss—what treasures remain and what is truly gone • Educating around healthy and unhealthy grief • Helping you discover the ways you already know how to grieve and cope with loss so you can amplify what helps and lessen what doesn’t

Loss is a normal yet profound event in everyone's life. It can be expected or sudden and devastating. Either way it often leaves us feeling as though our world has been forever changed and we find ourselves feeling lonely, lost, angry, sad, shocked or confused. Sometimes others, our fast paced society, or we ourselves expect us to move on quickly and deny or forget it. But grief has it's own story and it needs to be told. Therapy can help you sort out the many facets of your grief and offer resources and strategies to help you cope. Grief changes us and challenges us to find new meaning in our lives when we give it the honor and respect it is due.