Grief and Loss Counselling in Sechelt, BC.

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 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.

I have lived experience in grief and loss, and through talk therapeutic approaches, we will gently process through feelings of loss, guilt, tragic and overwhelming, devastating feelings that may be creating levels of dysfunction in your current life circumstances. I also utilize therapy walks to facilitate your movement through your loss and to assist in it by carrying and accepting your loss.

Grief can come from many kinds of loss — the death of someone you love, the end of a relationship, changes within your family, or the loss of the future you thought you were going to have. There is no single right way to grieve, and sometimes the people around you may not understand why you are still struggling. I offer grief and loss counselling with warmth, compassion and space for whatever you are feeling. Using an emotion-focused approach, we can make sense of your grief, the relationships and attachments connected to your loss, and what it means to carry that loss while gradually finding your way forward.

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.

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.

Grief can change everything. It can leave you feeling lost, exhausted, angry, numb, or wondering how you're supposed to move forward when a part of your life has changed forever. You don't have to have the right words or know what you need before you reach out. Together, we can make sense of what you're carrying, find ways to cope with the moments that feel hardest, and help you move forward without feeling like you have to leave your memories, or the person you've lost, behind. My goal is to help you feel more grounded, supported, and able to find your footing again, one step at a time.

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.”

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.

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.

For complex grief and loss, clients can benefit from working with a therapist who is compassionate and patient, providing space and time to move at your own pace. At the same time, we will develop skills to help the nervous system regulate and relax while processing through sharing your story, using EMDR and working with nature to normalize the death and life cycles.