Grief and Loss Counselling in West Point Grey, BC.

Unfortunately, grief is an unavoidable part of life. Everyone will lose someone they love at some point in their life. Managing a loss can be difficult and the world can feel like it's flipper over. Grief is a powerful emotional response to a loss that we have had and is not limited to the loss of losing someone. I help guide my clients in a non-judgemental way in helping to process their emotions attached to the grief that they are experiencing along with processing the event of the grief. I will listen to my clients in a supportive manner, sensitively and caringly help individuals to grieve their losses in their own unique ways and go over rituals which may help despite their grief.

In my grief counselling practice, I specialize in guiding individuals through the intricate emotions that emerge following the loss of a loved one or a significant life change. I provide a secure and nurturing space where you can openly express your feelings, delve into memories, and address the challenges associated with grief. As your dedicated counsellor, I am committed to fostering a compassionate and understanding environment, supporting you on your journey to healing and finding a path forward.

Are you a gay man that’s struggling with grief and loss? Grieving can be unique for gay men because it can include grieving the loss of people, relationships, and even experiences you may have never had. I help gay men by teaching them tools to make the grieving process more manageable, working through grief that feels “stuck,” and exploring what it means for you to live a fulfilling life while grieving.

When dealing with grief and loss, successful results come from processing grief in a healthy manner and moving through to a place of feeling more settled. With my approaches of both EMDR & Neurofeedback (NFB), the brain is supported in a healthy manner to best allow the processing of loss and allow healing to take place. With NFB, neural connections are enhanced, affecting the Central Nervous System in a natural way to get the brain and body to be at its best. Once the brain training is completed, the effects last and the client is able to move forward in a settled fashion. With EMDR, clients can quickly decrease the intense and often negative emotional charge that loss brings.

Grief and loss leave us feeling distressed and destabilized. Whether your loss is through a break-up, death, or transition, grief can feel constant and heavy. I provide a supportive environment in which to reflect on the impact of your loss, and make sense of what this means for you - your sense of self, and your future. Whether it is the early days of your loss and you are looking for support to anchor you, or you have been struggling with this loss for months or years, we can work together to reconstruct meaning in your life.

If you are working through grief and loss, you will understand how complex and how many emotions can be present. My goal is to support you in processing your grief at the pace that works for you utilizing techniques from ACT and other emotion based modalities. There are seasons of grief that can present in unique ways, so as we work through grief and these seasons we will discover the together gold each new season brings.

The pain of grief is different from any pain we feel during our lives. Grief brings up different and sometimes conflicting emotions and unprocessed grief leads to other mental health issues. My approach to grief is creating a safe space in which the clients can share the many different emotions that grief brings up. I also help my clients get in touch with what they need to go through this difficult phase with more compassion. We talk about what the loss means for them and how they can build their life around all the changes that grief brings. Together we will sit with difficult emotions, with the questions that might not have any answers and with the overwhelming pain.

Losing a loved one, dealing with a life-changing illness or injury, or experiencing a major life transition can be incredibly difficult to navigate on your own. As a therapist, I am here to provide you with the support and guidance you need to heal and move forward. I believe that everyone's grief journey is unique, and I tailor my approach to meet your individual needs and circumstances. Together, we can explore your emotions and experiences, find ways to cope with your loss, and develop strategies to manage any challenges that arise. Whether you need space to process and grieve, support in adjusting to a new reality, or simply someone to talk to, I am here to help.

Grief and Loss can feel isolating, hopeless and endless. Whether you have lost a parent, a child, a friend, or a spouse, it is important to discuss your experience with one of our trained professionals in order to start the healing process. Often grief and loss occurs without warning. It is unwanted, stressful, and can feel as though you are the only one experiencing what you are feeling.

I support people going through grief by using a mindful approach. This forgiving way of working through one of the most difficult, stressful and confusing times in life allows you to grieve at your own pace without any judgement. Often people with good intent ask if we are still grieving, perhaps they are not aware that there is no timeline to grief. If you are grieving and you need support I can help you navigate this very surreal time.

Even though we would want to tell the client that grief and loss is a neat process of 5 - 7 stages (denial, anger... acceptance), it is usually experienced as a roller coaster of emotions and it takes a different amount of time for every individual. What I do is to help clients embrace and express different levels of pain: 1) talking about emotional experience, without showing the emotion; 2) talking with emotional reactions (tears coming, trembling voice); 3) silent crying; 4) sobbing and 5) loud crying and screaming. Finally, we should not forget that moderate denial is natural (like a temporary break from grief). And yes, grief can shake our faith, but it usually leads to acceptance.

Are you feeling lost and overwhelmed after a loved one has passed away or a partner has left? Do you feel like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, or focus on your daily tasks? Grief can be a heavy burden, but you don't have to carry it alone. As a specialist in grief counselling, I can help you find a way through. By combining both warmth and compassion, as well as evidenced-based techniques, I can help you make sense of your loss. Together, we can find relief from the pain, while still honouring the memory of the person you've lost. If you're ready to start feeling better, don't hesitate to call.

Loss can break, alienate, initiate, and open. It can lead to oceans of feelings looming over us, a sense of being distanced from oneself and others—far away adrift at sea, rage at the injustice of loss, and even shame at experiencing rage. I can't predict what the waves may be like for you, but I can help you respond to them. Whether your instinct is to hold, brace, jump, dive, run, scream, float, or let the waves wash over you, together we can feel out what to do and what to make of it all.

Loss can leave one with a myriad of emotions (feeling overwhelmed, confused, depressed, deeply sad, angry, among others). If left to our own accord, most will eventually begin to feel generally better; however, some lasting emotionality is not uncommon. In other cases, individuals experience a persistent and long-lasting deep sense of loss. In either event, counselling can help individuals to honour the emotionality of grief and loss while reducing the overall effect on their daily living. Ego-State therapy, is particularly well designed for grief and loss interventions, helping individuals to understand the loss, as well as finding and bolstering their own personal coping resources.

When you mourn the loss of someone or something you love, it can feel like you will never feel at peace again. Whether it is sudden or slowly happened, it is still heartbreaking. These feelings show how much you really did care and what a big part of your life they were. A part of moving through grief is making space for these feelings and slowly adjusting to a new way of living. You don't have to move through this process alone.

Unfortunately, loss seems to be part of life. Suffering loss can be a very painful experience. Friends and family can be supportive but sometimes it is hard for them to maintain the objective approach really needed because they are dealing with the grief in their own way. Often people find it more helpful to grieve loss in a private place with professional help. My services help you do just that. I am compassionate and understanding.

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.

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.

ARE YOU STRUGGLING TO MOVE FORWARD AFTER A LOSS OR IS YOUR GRIEF TOO MUCH TO HANDLE ON YOUR OWN? Grief is heartbreaking, and can be overwhelming. The emotions following a significant loss can range from sadness, guilt, anger and fear – and sometimes all of these at once. At the same time, it is not uncommon to also experience numbness and detachment in the aftermath of loss. Overall, people who have experienced a major loss often describe feeling destabilized, unable to concentrate, and unmoored. Loss can change how we see ourselves and the world around us, which leaves us uncertain as to how to move forward. Let's work through the complexities of your grief together.

GRIEF AND LOSS THERAPY Discovering how to live with and move through the pain of loss is a deeply personal process. There is no set amount of time or way to grieve. Only the time and manner that is right for you is right. Sadness, intense grief, anger and fear, a sense of lost identity, feelings of guilt, disorientation, a loss of purpose, a feeling of numbness may be part of your experience. As a counsellor who has worked with people of all ages and backgrounds, I bring a compassionate heart, a nonjudgmental approach and a warm environment where you can safely explore the feelings and thoughts that face you. Getting the support you need can make a huge difference.

The grief and loss process is unique for each individual. The loss of a partner, the end of a relationship, a loved pet that died years ago...these events can have a profound affect on us.In counselling we work through the various stages and tasks of greiving together,at the clients pace. Through this journey I offer support and compassion to the client at all times. The benifit to the client is that they work through their grief and eventually are able to honour the loss yet at the same time move on with their life in a positive way.

Though every experience of loss is personal and unique, there are maps to help us navigate this painful process. Sometimes present grief is complicated by past losses that have re-surfaced and this can make dealing with it alone especially difficult. As an experienced and knowledgeable counsellor in the area of Loss and Grief, I can support you in not feeling overwhelmed. I am there as a compassionate listener and witness, as well as a guide, as your heart heals and you are able to celebrate life again.

Do you wake up in the morning and have a wave of sadness wash over you as you remember the pain of your loss? Although bereavement is part of life there are times when the circumstances surrounding a loss of a loved one makes it very difficult to come to terms with. Together we will hold a space that will allow you the opportunity to be comforted and heal.

Grief can leave you disoriented and staggering. Your loss may recent, or in the past but never mourned. The loss of a person, a relationship, a career, your health, a pet are all serious disconnections. As a therapist, I will accompany you as you face your loss and express all the different emotions you may need to express. These may include sadness, anger, guilt, abandonment, and fear for your future. In time, you can move towards accepting and integrating your loss into the larger narrative of your life. With patient and compassionate support, you can gradually start to live again with enthusiasm.

Grief and loss is a profound and individualized experience. However, with ideas about specific stages of grief and appropriate and inappropriate types of grieving - grief and loss can be stigmatizing. Feelings of grief and loss can come from a wide range of experiences. For instances, these feelings can emerge from a death or loss of a loved one, an illness, death of a pet, loss from relationship or identity etc. In therapy we will explore your individual experience with grief and loss within the context of your life and life experiences. I offer support to individuals, couples, or families.