Grief and Loss Counselling in Bon Accord, AB.

Grief is often disowned and punished. This means that when grief does arise it can be extra painful because of years of being pushed away. Psychotherapy can be a place to acknowledge and rediscover our grief and explore it. As an inevitable part of life it is important to connect to our need to grieve. By doing this we heal and rediscover intimacy. Visit my website at www.prairieowlpsychology.ca from more details.

It has been said that life is about loss, and how one deals with it. Grief is how we deal with loss. Uncomplicated grief is an adjustment process, not an illness. There is one, though...an illness, I mean. I'd say the "illness" is cultural: For one reason or another, people ordinarily lose patience with the grief process, and often well before a healthy mourner is through their active grieving process. Unexpressed grief from former losses can extend the time needed for healthy grieving. People's wounds and scars can close heart and mind toward the grieving process. In an imperfect world, psychotherapists hold space and make time for (and precious to) a balanced grief process.

[NOTE: MY OFFICE IS IN CALGARY -- I DO VIDEO SESSIONS ELSEWHERE IN ALBERTA]. You are hurting now, and I understand that. As a psychologist with 31-years of experience and some hard-earned wisdom, I too have experienced grief and loss many times in my life. I can help. Let’s sit down over coffee and chat about the pain you are feeling now. Book with me right now by going to https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=14249112

At Rivers Edge Counselling, our therapists can help you with your grief or bereavement by: helping you better identify and accept your loss, move through the various emotions associated with loss like anger, hopelessness, sadness, guilt and loneliness seek a new approach to remember and honour a loved one who has passed away, and finally accept the impact it has had on shaping your life.

There are many situations when people go through a grieving process. Sometimes, you may find yourself feeling misunderstood, isolated, angry, resentful, burned out, or guilty and ashamed, among many other emotional experiences. There is no "right way" to grieve or mourn, but if you find yourself struggling or in distress, I am here to listen and help you feel supported and validated.

Grief and loss is part of life. Whether we loss someone we love through death or divorce, or lose our job it is a natural process of grieve that loss. Many times we approach loss by saying that we "want to get over" the death of our loved one, loss of job or health. We want things to get back to normal. The reality is that we need to find our way through mourning to the new normal in your life.

Loosing a loved ones hurts especially if it's a spouse, child, parent, friend or family pet. Dealing with grief is a process and having a gentle, compassionate person to walk through this with you can be the difference between drowning, and moving through overwhelmingly painful feelings to feeling whole again. Art therapy offers another modality for expressing grief that may be hard to articulate. It is when we process our emotions that pain can be lifted and new maces of being in the world are found.

Standard Grief: Sadness directly related to a loss. Complex Grief: Sadness related to a loss. Includes additional meanings and associated emotions as in: Regret – “I am a horrible person” Anger – “The universe took something too soon” Hopelessness – “ My life has not meaning now” Fear – “I am at risk of losing more” Helpless – “I am incapable- I cannot go on” Complex grief is grieving that get stuck because of the complicating meaning the trauma of loss has triggered. In order to treat complex grief, we remove the LBs associated with the loss, as shown above, and this lets the standard grief progress through the regular stages of grief, to arrive at a healthy perspective on the loss.

Grieving a loss can feel overwhelming and sometimes it feels like the pain will never end. Losses are experienced uniquely for each individual and reactions can greatly vary. Having a compassionate person to talk and share with makes a difference. Processing your feelings enables you to work through the stages of grief. As you deal with pain, guilt, anger and overwhelm you move from surviving to thriving again.

Grief can feel as if we’ve had the wind knocked out of us, and that the world keeps going while the clock has stopped for us. Society, however, asks us to get on with our lives rather quickly. Sometimes it feels like our friends and family members don’t know what to do or say, which can leave us feeling isolated with our grief. It is important to take time to work through feelings of grief and loss otherwise we end up feeling disconnected from ourselves and others. I provide a supportive space in which to express the thoughts and feelings you have in a safe, compassionate and non-judgmental environment.

Death is an inevitable facet of life, and the loss of a loved one ~ changes a lot of things. The greatest loss is loosing our part in the relationship and how it anchored us. Death changes one's entire platform of life. Complicated grief is when unresolved issues still linger, or when a difficult relationship has ended. It leaves us destitute and incomplete. At SunRise we would like to help you find a renewed sense of purpose. A way to reconcile and move on without forgetting. We would like to assist you in finding a deeper meaning to that persons life, and focus on the legacy they left behind ~ and the way they touched your hearts. We would like to help you grieve ~ and still grow.

My approach to grief and loss is extensive, starting with healing and mindfulness practices. Each individual may experience something different while suffering the loss of a loved one. Treatment must be sensitive to the needs and goals of the individual seeking treatment. Many times during grief and loss sessions I use Emotional Freedom Technique (also known as Meridian Tapping) to help alleviate stress on the neuro feedback loop.

Saying good-bye is one of the hardest things we are all asked to do in life, whether is it good-bye to a person, a phase of life, a place, or some other intangible. Having a compassionate professional to walk with you through your grief can make all the difference. Dr. Hook has helped many of her clients work through their losses and find meaning again.