Grief and Loss Counselling in Ottawa, ON.

Finding our way through a painful loss and the associated grief can be a most difficult and excruciating journey for any of us to encounter. However, it is with the intention of gently guiding clients back on the road to recovery. Through gaining insight and courageously tackling the loss both willingly and openly has proven beneficial. Ultimately allowing themselves to profoundly heal.

Rather than drive our grief and loss underground or deep into our unconscious, therapy allows us to focus on the pain of our loss with all its multiple layers. Processing our thoughts with the spoken word rather than keeping them as mere mental reflections permits us to actively embrace our pain. We experience clarity and eventually direction to our grieving process. We can in time come to a place of sorrowful acceptance. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross gives us understanding of the grief and loss process in her Five Stages of Grief. However, it is important to note that these stages are not linear in their progression and are somewhat unique to each individual.

Clients who have lost a loved one will be given the opportunity to pass through the stages of grief in a healthy way. While being supported in Psychotherapy Clients will have the chance to work through any difficult emotions they may be struggling with in relation to their loved ones death. Client will learn to honor the person they've lost while finding a way to accept that loss and continue to live a fulfilling life.

Clients experiencing grief and loss can often benefit from a supportive therapeutic process. It can allow a space to explore feelings without having to take care of anyone else-it is just for them. Clients can also explore blocks or complications to grieving that might be contributing to their struggle, for instance older traumas, difficulty with feeling or expressing their emotions.

Grief and loss is hard, it is difficult and we all experience it in many phases of our life span. There is no right or wrong in grieving or any length of time however, there is life and hope after! It is learning to accept the grief, feel it and then move on with either with professional help or your own path to moving forward with your life.

Feelings of grief and loss are as unique as those experiencing them. Counselling support is similarly tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of the client. One may experience feelings of grief following the loss of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, the loss of a dream, or the loss of a career; while these situations can feel overwhelming, one does not have to move through this alone.

The Grief and Loss Service (GLS) at the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships (CFIR) offers clients counselling and psychotherapy to support them to address past and present grief and loss. Unprocessed grief and loss can affect our emotional well-being, our functioning in everyday life and our interpersonal relationships. We help you to understand the meanings of your losses, and to process the unresolved or complicated emotional residue from these losses. We support you throughout your grieving process so that you may move forward with your life with a renewed sense of meaning, purpose and hope. CFIR psychologists and clinicians employ psychodynamic and experiential approaches to support

Many of my clients have a very difficult time assimilating a deep loss in their lives especially when they have lost a dearly beloved family member. At the time of their loss they require immense support and a "listening" ear". They often fear that they will never recover. What I offer them is some hope for their future and I suggest some techniques to them of how to "take the long view." I also assist them in finding relevant resources in their local community that can support them through the following months and years. I remind them that the last thing that their departed loved one would want is for them to lose their motivation and zest. I empower them to go on fully living.

Grieving and Loss are life and living issues that are part of the normal challenges we face in our lifetime. The often irrational and overwhelming thoughts, feelings and behaviors associated with them can sometimes frighten and even paralyze us when they occur. In a supportive and empathic environment I help people demystify and understand these challenges and events so they can cope again.

Have you lost a partner, someone important in your life or ended an important relationship. While loss can be painful, you should not feel an endless sense of despair. Grief and loss of a loved one is a journey that can be overwhelming. Allow yourself time to grieve but ensure that you are taking care of yourself. Counselling may be a way to care for yourself as you adjust to this new reality. Together we can help you adapt to these losses and help you to move forward while honouring your loss.

Clients benefit from the approach I use in addressing Grief and Loss because it addresses the root cause of making it a complicated feeling of loss. There is a lot of validations and support of the painful feelings the bereaved is going through. And, the approach does not stop there. I go further by bringing into the clients' awareness why he/she is feeling the way he/she is and teach the client how to go through the normal painful feelings without going into complilcated grief or depression.

Clients who are faced with grief and loss go through a number of stages in the grieving process. Counselling at Elim help clients go through these stages in a normal and healthy way without spiralling into complicated grief or chronic depression. In addition counsellors at Elim are trained in understanding the spiritual crisis that people of faith often go through when dealing with grief and loss.

Grief is a growth experience. Clients entering into grief counselling in my practice will feel supported, and validated in there pain however, in the process of softenning the pain, will achieve personal growth. The pain of loss from separation, death, chronic illness is tangible and real, it does not however, have to be crippling rather through therapy grief can be a liberating, changing experience.