Grief and Loss Counselling in Nisku, AB.

At some point in your life you will experience a significant loss. Being able to cope with this loss is a truly personal expereince that hosts many emotions. Moving through the stages of grief and learning how to deal and cope with these emotions are symbolic to remembering the good things about that persons life. Clients will experience relief from emotional suffering, experience increased energy for life and feel more "positive" about life.

Grief and loss are experiences that we all experience at some point in our lives. However, we all experience the grieving process in our own way. I understand that grief is a very personal process, and I respect that there are many healthy views about what loss means in our lives. If you are finding grief is making it difficult for you to function day to day, I can help. Together we will explore how loss has impacted your life and process this experience in a way that brings insight and understanding that will allow you to move forward. Our goal is not to make a loss a happy memory, nor a memory we forget about, but an experience we are truly at peace with.

Grief is a natural process that's painful, personal, and normal. Grief allows a person to come to terms with a significant loss, and make sense of their new reality without a loved one. I can help those who are experiencing complicated grief. Typically, the goals of my therapy for complicated grief revolve around overcoming obstacles to the normal grieving process, and to coming to terms with the loss.

A miscarriage or loss can have impacts far beyond the event itself. By working with a psychologist, there is the capacity to work through the grief, honor the process and begin to work towards a future where you can feel joy again. Having a compassionate, non-judgemental person to listen and support you can make all the difference in those difficult times.

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.

Losing a loved one leaves us feeling alone and vulnerable, overwhelmed and in pain. We want encouragement, but tend to pull away from others. Working through these difficult experiences together provides a place to ask difficult questions, work through pain, have someone listen without giving pat answers, and look for comfort and support in our own lives. Loss of dreams, a job, a lover, a friend--these also are very painful. Counselling at Karunia provides a source of support for you in mourning the loss, dealing with the pain, and finding the energy to once again go forward in the context of your personal strengths.

Grief is a normal response to loss and needs to be experienced. However, when grief has gone on too long or is felt to intensely, therapy can be helpful. I support clients in exploring the impact of their losses and their experience of grief. I use strategies such as hypnosis, EMDR, or narrative therapy to help resolve that grief. I respect that current grief and loss experiences may be connected to earlier, unresolved, experiences of abuse or trauma and that counselling work may need to focus on resolving related issues.

Feelings of loss and grief come up for different reasons. You may have lost a loved one, a relationship or even a change in your physical functioning due to accidents or illness. Whatever the reason, therapy can help in the grieving process. It gives you the space to acknowledge your loss, what it meant to you as well as finding new ways to ascribe meaning in your life.

Grief and loss are responses to heart ache and trauma. I work with clients to facilitate the expression of their feelings through telling their story. This story telling may be verbal, writing or artistic creation. It may involve making amends or seeking forgiveness. The journey through grief can be difficult yet one that will bring closure and healing. Emotions are along a continuum and if one does not have the ability to experience pain it will be difficult to experience joy. Grief and loss work is life enhancing.

Clients can expect a client centered, supportive and informative understanding of what to expect regarding grief and loss issues as well as how to work through these issues through hands-on therapeutic techniques. I currently use some emotionally focused therapy techniques as well as models from three different grief cycles for grief issues which can include anything from death and loss of a loved one to giving up substances or breakup of a relationship.

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.

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.

Dealing with the loss of an important person is always one of the hardest thing to do. Using a scientifcally savvy approach to bereavement does not mean that we do not use the concept of soul. Understanding the complexity of what happens to us must always been one the most important goals for counseling; and grief, pain and sorrow are often deeper than many people think.