Grief and Loss Counselling in Amherstburg, ON.

Coping with grief is an inevitable and challenging aspect of life. At Atlas Therapy, our commitment is to assist you in navigating this journey, offering support and empathy as you confront various types of loss. We strive to aid clients in comprehending the grieving process, devising personalized coping strategies, addressing feelings of guilt or anger, fostering social connections, building resilience, and engaging in cognitive restructuring. The skilled therapists at Atlas recognize that grief elicits a spectrum of intense emotions, and we provide a secure, non-judgmental space for you to express and process these feelings. Take the first step towards healing by reaching out today.

In my practice you will find a safe place to talk about and work through pain, and the feelings of sadness, confusion, guilt, shame and anger that often accompany the experience of grief and loss. Moving through grief and loss is your personal journey that takes time and is experienced uniquely from your own perspective. I provide therapy, counselling and and support for people who have lost a loved one such as a family member, friend or colleague whether through death or the ending of a relationship, those who have lost an important pet or animal companion or people who have experienced a loss that includes a loss of a job or personal identity.

The experience of loss may result from many life experiences including the passing of a human loved one or a beloved pet, the ending of a relationship, job loss, or changes to our physical or mental capabilities. Grief is one of the most challenging of human emotions. Together, we will navigate your unique grieving process to enable you to experience growth and empower you to create a life you can accept and enjoy despite your loss.

If you are dealing with grief and loss, there is help available to assist you in navigating this storm. Learn how to move forward through acceptance, understanding the pain and emotions, filling the gaps left behind in healthy ways, and finding a healthy balance between cherishing the memories and moving forward with life.

Grief is a complex experience that may be accompanied by a diversity of difficult emotions that are challenging to work around. However, you are not alone. Each of us have a unique relationship with grief, and I am here to support you in discovering what that relationship looks like for you. You don’t have to know where to start or where you are going in your pathway to healing. There is no correct way to grieve. Contact me to book a free consultation to see if we would be a good fit.

Processing loss is painful, confusing and often isolating. This is not something that is as simple as progressing through "stages" in order and typically involves emotions that we have been taught to avoid or suppress. Working with a therapist to unpack and go through grief and loss can offer some space and perspective that is not there when we talk with friends and family. Here you can have a non-judgmental space to take the time to work this out in the way that you need. This is not always easy, but we can navigate this together.

Unfortunately we all will encounter grief and loss at times during our lives. There is no set time frame for working through the waves of emotions. However, sometimes we may feel stuck in our grieving process and it is comforting to find support along this journey. I use various techniques dependent on a collaborative treatment design. Therapeutic modalities include Narrative Therapy, Expressive Art Therapy and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing).

Any loss can cause a person to feel grief; whether it is the loss of a job, a relationship, the death of a loved one, or the loss of a cherished dream etc. I find that my clients find it helpful to use Narrative techniques, such as writing personnel journals. However, the use of Somatic Experiencing which is a form of therapy aimed at relieving and resolving the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and physical trauma-related health problems. Regardless, a person needs to re-connect and make sense to painful emotions and past events in order to effectively deal with a loss or a post traumatic event, such as a motor vehicle accident, rape, sexual attack, childhood trau....

With Gestalt therapy the five tasks of mourning, are supported: (1) To accept the reality of the loss, (2) To experience the pain of grief, (3) To adjust to the environment in which the deceased is missing, (4) To withdraw (some) emotional energy and reinvest it in another relationship, and (5) To find a place for and maintain a continuing bond with what we lose, however not in any specific order. A gestalt therapist supports the bereaved with an emphasis on a "loving authentic presence and communication that allows expression of EACH other’s personhood" so that feelings are honored and explored at the clients own pace. The here and now is emphasized and that is what leads to support/change