Grief and Loss Counselling in Lantzville, BC.

A loved one dying affects everyone in a family and each member will work through their grief in their own way and timeframe. Empathizing and listening while offering comfort and support as individuals work through their depression, anger and guilt of the emotional roller coaster of grief in a safe environment for expression of self will enable one to move forward towards a healthier life.

Experiencing a loss goes beyond the loss of the family, friend, pet, or child to be. Not only have you lost the loved one physically; you lose what your life was with them; and what your future with them would have been. Overcoming such loss can feel overwhelming and impossible to heal. Counselling can make a significant difference in getting through this difficult period. Family members who may mean well may not understand the loss and inadvertently cause us pain: by expecting us to ‘get over it’, and by impatient and unsympathetic. Counselling offers a compassionate sounding board that is sympathetic and non-judgemental. We are able to heal at our own pace in a supportive environment.

Losing someone in your life can be a painful, frustrating, and bewildering experience. Part of the grieving process is to express your grief and to share what your loss means. Through therapy, there are ways to support grief so it can be felt, understood, and integrated over time. I offer a safe, confidential, nonjudgmental place to talk about your grief and to create your own unique roadmap through this process. Some of the grief-related issues I help people explore include anger, hurt, feelings of abandonment, ambiguous feelings following the death of someone with whom the relationship was complicated, guilt, loneliness, and other complex emotional responses. “Hope begins in the dark.”

Grief has a way of pulling the ground out from underneath you, and my work is to help you find steady footing again. In our sessions, we look honestly at the pain, the confusion, the anger—nothing is off-limits and nothing is “too much.” I guide you toward uncovering the meaning hidden inside your heartbreak, helping you rebuild a life that feels true rather than numb. Clients often experience a shift from simply enduring their loss to discovering a renewed sense of identity, purpose, and personal strength.

After significant loss, you may experience difficult and surprising emotions, such as anger, shock and guilt. It may feel like the sadness will never go away. I know personally what this feels like and I support many people who are trying to find ways to cope and find their reason to continue. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. There are however many healthy ways to cope with the pain. You can get through it! I can help you.

When we are facing grief and loss, there is often a complex web of emotions and many layers of meaning-making to encounter in our healing process. The path is never linear. The timeline requires sensitivity and nuance. Compassion, patience and the ability to hold seemingly contradictory feelings are paramount. With gentle presence, we can hold the magnitude and the subtleties of this experience moving step by step towards healing.

Grief and loss is an area of focus at Island Clinical Counselling. Therapy involves spending time in the emotions associated with the grief and loss in order to allow the individual to process the emotion in a healthy way. Experiencing grief and loss is like no other emotion and sometimes is connected to trauma. We ensure clients are treated in a trauma informed way so that their safety is prioritized.

I offer counselling services at The Centre For Expressive Therapy to children and adults who are suffering from grief and loss. I use Holistic Expressive Therapy which I have developed that addresses the unique physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual needs of each individual. I design effective expressive therapies to address your specific needs. Together we will work through the stages of grief, the stages in the healing process and mediate the impact that grief, loss and bereavement has in your life. Expressive therapies will help you with issues such as fear, depression, anxiety and sleeping problems.

Counseling with Olivia through a trauma-informed perspective can provide a compassionate and supportive space for clients navigating grief and loss. Olivia prioritizes safety, trust, and understanding, recognizing how trauma impacts emotional and physical well-being. By focusing on the client’s unique experiences, she helps them process their pain, rebuild resilience, and find meaning amid loss. This approach emphasizes empowering clients to establish healthy coping strategies and restore hope in the aftermath of profound emotional challenges. Through a tailored, empathetic framework, Olivia fosters healing and growth, guiding clients toward a sense of peace and renewed purpose.

When working with grief and loss, I see that it affects a person's whole life in various ways. I recognize that it comes in waves and each person has their own timeline for working through it. I encourage clients to tell their story and not be afraid to share it with others, but that others will not always be open to hearing. Part of grieving is working through the memories and see each area of loss.

Moving through times of grieving can often be complicated by feelings of isolation and loss and to navigate this I work with individuals to process the impact of the grief within different aspects of their lives. Part of this process involves examining assets within themselves that will foster strength and resilience that will be beneficial towards the process of moving ahead in their lives. Living with grief is a part of the grieving process and building on past successes and strengths speaks to continued wellness.

When losing someone or something important to us, it can take lots time to adjust and learn to live our life without that person, thing or way of life. Either it is the death of a loved one, loss of a relationship, loss of a pet, loss of a job or important possessions, change to your way of life, grieving is a normal response to a life event and bottling it up can create damage or even harm to a person. It can take time to adjust and accept to learn to live life without that person, thing or way of life. When it gets too challenging or overwhelming, or if it gets in a way of living a healthy life, sometimes turning to professional support can help getting through this challenging event.

Are you feeling sad, anxious, angry, lonely, guilty, relieved, isolated, confused, or numbed out? Loss and grief is most often associated with loss of life, but it can also be central to the presenting problems and underlying issues that are brought into my counselling office by most of my clients. Death, divorce, relocation, immigration, job loss, relationship breakdowns...these are all losses that we need to work through. Talking about your loss and processing your feelings is a good place to start.