Grief and Loss Counselling in Calgary, AB.

When it all comes crashing down, everyone needs a safe place to be heard. It should be easier for Christians - but often it is far more difficult. It's hard to find a safe place to ask the really hard questions. It's even harder to receive subtle messages to, "Contain your sorrow," from others. So, if you're tired of putting on a brave face, come and experience a place where you can be really understood and real help with navigating through that surreal fog and haze. Life's losses are never a place for pat answers or bandaid solutions.

Grief and Loss is a process, while unique to the person there are milestones and supports that can make the process more natural and healthy. Loss and grief is part of the human experience however, we can become challenged in the process by specific events or circumstances while in the vulnerable state of adjustment and grief. Grief and Loss benefits from supports and compassion.

Losses are often the most difficult of life transitions. One can feel like the sadness will never lift or that life no longer has meaning. Grief is a soul journey that will change you physically, emotionally, cognitively, socially, and spiritually. The word "bereavement" literally means to be torn apart. No wonder you feel so tired! Let me companion you as you journey through this dark time in your life. You won't "get over" grief any more than you "get over" love, but you can reconcile this loss in your life and experience a life of hope and joy once more. Learn more about the Companioning Model at centerforloss.com

People living in our culture often lack the permission -both from others and themselves - to fully grieve their losses, and yet I have observed that careful attention to grief is so necessary for achieving and maintaining our health and wellness in the long term. I try to support you in approaching grief as a process and a journey. Our work together involves honoring the loss while finding ways to help you manage strong feelings, and re-orient toward the many aspects of your life that your grief touches. Using mindfulness and body awareness helps to both deepen and ground this process, and exploring meaningful personal rituals together (ritual having been a key ingredient in many healthy cultures’ approach to grief) can be very helpful.

Gerard has diverse experience as a psychologist and leader in social services, schools, university, workplaces, and his private practice. Using a theoretical foundation of social learning and cognitive-behavioural training, he is well-versed in various kinds of formal and informal assessment and solution-focussed approaches. He listens carefully to understand your needs and relies on his extensive experience to help you find solutions.

A supportive environment is offered to talk about and resolve difficult loss situations and feelings. Eventually you will be able to remember the positive times anf feel little pain of the loss. You will find new motivation to carry on with your life. You will have new motivation and see the world in a more positive light. Being socially involved and being involved with new relationships that previously felt impossible can happen once more.

Come and experience a gentle and quiet space where your feminine heart can just be. Forget having to look good or say the right things. Bring the hurt, the pain, the anger at God and the questions you don't even feel you have permission to ask and just let go. Let's walk through that fog together and see the hope God has for your future and the healing you can experience right now.

I offer grief and loss counselling for not only a human loved one but also a beloved pet. I can deeply empathize with my clients due to having experienced these types of losses myself. I believe that it is only through personal experience that one can appreciate the unimaginable sorrow and heartache of losing a special person or animal. This is why support groups are so effective, as people take solace in the reality that they are not alone.

Dealing with grief and loss can be overwhelming and leave you feeling like there is no way forward. My job is to stand beside you with a view to the future and the tools to help you find your way forward with a safe place to resolve the sense of loss and adaptive coping skills. It is humbling and inspiring to witness clients move from fear and uncertainty toward knowing and strength.

It is impossible to live without experiencing the loss of someone or something that really matters to us. Grieving is a normal human experience but the emotional pain can often be unbearable. Although grieving does not necessarily have an end point, therapy can assist you to cope more effectively with the loss and return sooner to a meaningful and satisfying life.

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.

The loss of a loved one can be one of the most challenging emotional experiences that people face in their lives. Loss and grief can also be experienced for other reasons such as when an individual or a loved one develops a serious disability or life-threatening illness. I support people through the symptoms of grief and the difficult life adjustments that follow. The goal of counselling is reached through the expression of emotions, memories and thoughts about the loss, while normalizing its effects. The hope is that eventually people work toward rebuilding and find their new sense of normal.

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.