Grief and Loss Counselling in Toronto, ON.

Having practiced for 20 years, and spent 6 years in a Trauma Centre in Ontario, I have gained a great deal of experience in working with Grief & Loss. The griefwork I have done has been with adolescents, adults and families. I allow my clients to work through their traumatic issues, loss, and grief in a compassionate, gentle, safe manner while assisting them to achieve greater relief from pain over time.

We all must deal with grief sometime in our lives. However, there are times we lose someone dear to us and it feels as if we will never see the sun again. Processing our loss through therapy helps to make that dark journey less difficult and in time blur the sharp painful edges of pain. During therspy we will look at and restructure negative debilitating thoughts and replacing them with more constructive and positive ones. We never fully get over the loss, but we learn how to celebrate and cherish our missed loved ones.

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.

Grief is a normal and natural response to aloss, and losses can create a lot of pain and suffering. The grieving process is very individualized and personal such that everyone processes and experiences grief differently. Whereas some might feel better after a few weeks, others might need years to feel better. There is no set time. In all cases, it is important to cope and get support with grief aand not ignore it.

Every person's grief and loss is unique. I will work with you to process that unique experience through discussion in sessions, and exercises that I will give you to process your thoughts and feelings. These exercises wll be specific to your loss. We will also embrace the healing power of time, and the notion of radical acceptance of what cannot be changed.

The pain and hurt that comes from grief and loss can devastate any individual or relationship. Intense relationship distress and conflict can follow for an individuals internal world, social circle, or for your significant other. The most important thing I want people to know is that the storm you find yourself in does not have to be navigated alone. There is a way forward, and we go at your pace. Whether you are seeking individual, couple, or family therapy, this is a step towards that preferred future that right now may seem unattainable. We will work through an emotionally focused lens as our map forward.

Individuals often come to see me for therapy in my practice in the downtown area of Toronto in order to help them cope with grief, bereavement, and difficulty adjusting to painful loss. For some clients this includes the loss of a close family member, for others this includes the loss of an intimate relationship. In either case, the opportunity to discuss such losses and to understand their impact is an important part of the psychotherapy process.

I use a very holistic approach to loss and grief. We bring many aspects into the work including talk therapy, meditation, body centered relaxation, spirituality, letter writing, Emotional Freedom Technique, New Decision Therapy, Polarity Therapy, Cranosacral, Reiki, visualization, forgiveness work and acceptance work. We touch on how loss Can be a catalyst for growth and transformation.

There is probably no more powerful tool for healing yourself and others and none more basic, than family therapy. All therapy is, in some way, nothing more than applying specialized tools to what any good parent does when their child is in pain or upset. The father or mother opens their arms, their hearts and their ears to the upset child and makes themselves totally available and then and only then, gives feedback if it's the right time to do so. Its just as important for the adults to do for each other too. It provides the ground for a joyful relationship and that’s what I teach.

Individual therapy is focused on your unique needs and goals. Individual therapy includes learning about your history and life experiences then establishing goals to accomplish in counselling. Our histories are the roots that provide us with a foundation of strength and resilience. But, our histories can also hold the stories that cause pain, insecurity and doubt. It is our belief that the best therapy comes from helping to heal the roots that cause those stuck points. Through this we can create lasting change.

Has your loss fundamentally effected you? Surprised at how difficult your loss has been on your entire life? When we have lost a loved one a part of who we are is lost. Of course you were thrown off balance, that's normal. You can get back that part of you. I can support you in coming to a place of celebrating what once was while discovering new joys. You have an innate ability to transform yourself now, I can help you get back in touch with your strengths.

Life isn't fair. You loved someone, and now they are gone. Or maybe you've lost a job you love... or become disabled. Your whole world has been turned upsde down. Sometimes it seems like there's not much point in going on, but that's not really the case. Let me help you move through the stages of grief without getting stuck. You deserve to have a wonderful second act. Let's write a great new script together!

Grief counseling helps people cope with grief and mourning following the loss of a loved one or due to major life changes that trigger feelings of grief (i.e. job loss or divorce). It provides a space for individuals to work through and process the complex emotions surrounding loss. Healthy grieving results in remembering the loss with a newfound sense of peace, rather than searing pain.

Grey Matters International and the work of Kevin J. Fleming, Ph.D approaches issues of grief & loss through the lens of innovation----instead of growing the same neural networks responsible for the pain in weekly therapy sessions, we reset the brain to move forward quicker and efficiently by working on the stuck limbic system so as to empower the person with more success and traction. For no one wants to stay in a grief mode for too long; but when you don’t include the brain in your work with someone, you risk describing the water to them while they drown and calling it success. Contact Grey Matters International, Inc now at kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

My gentle, compassionate approach centres on offering practical and spiritual support to clients going through a grieving process, depending on the client’s particular needs and preferences. I find it is helpful and empowering for clients to understand the origins of the grief response so they’re better able to recognize and normalize it and support themselves as it arises, thus facilitating the healing process. In grief counselling, I draw from Nancy Reeves’ Energy Model as well as literature by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.

The loss of a loved one can be a devastating experience. It is natural to feel sad, empty, and emotionally disoriented. If you suppress your natural feelings of grief, you might gradually become numb and apathetic. Psychotherapy can help you feel and experience such complex emotions as denial, sadness, guilt, and anger typically associated with the experience of loss. Once you allow yourself to express, process, and understand the meaning of these feelings, you would be ready to put them to rest and reconnect with life. Once you experience your grief in a deeply genuine way, you would no longer be held back by crippling emotions.

The grief and loss that you can experience after the death of a loved one can be overwhelming and can make you feel cut off and isolated from the world as you have known it to be. You really have a need to talk about your loved one but often friends and family are limited in their ability to support you in this way. I can offer you a safe place in which you can talk in depth about your loved one, exploring and expressing feelings about your life with that person, what he or she meant to you, from the beginning of your relationship through to the end. I can also help you to begin to face what it means to move on without that person but still holding on to your memories.

Grief and loss can be experienced through many avenues, whether it is the death of a loved one, job loss, a relationship ending, loss of identity or sense of self, disconnection, or what you hoped could be. I will use evidence-based strategies to help you name your grief and loss, make room for it, allow it to move through you more freely, so that it can be integrated into your story and you can reconnect with who and how you want to be in the world moving forward.

At some point in life, most people will experience loss and the grief that comes with it. Along with the grief will be feelings, varying from deep sadness to anger. Adapting to loss is different for each person and often depends on one’s relationship to what was lost. Together we will process your loss and grief in a healthy and meaningful way. We will work through the 5 stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

This is such a vulnerable and difficult time where great compassion and tenderness is required. My approach includes the need to feel and express our in-depth feelings in order to heal grief and loss. I offer a way to explore this compassionately and more thoroughly in order that clients can emerge from this time of difficulty more whole and healed.

Grief, another powerful emotion we experience when dealing with loss, is a conditioning that affects all human beings. In our society there is often a notion that we should hurry up and get over our grief but maybe we should grieve as long as we need to. One way to see loss is to see loss as change and then to let change in. By developing a practice of loving kindness towards ourselves and others we can take a gentler approach toward loss and pain.

An experience of loss can be tangible such as termination from a job, death of a loved one, etc. It can also come during happy occasions, such as a wedding. While this is a celebrated occasion it can represent a loss for parents whose children move away, or a loss of singleness for the one marrying. While loss is often intangible, it can create intense grief. My work with loss and grief deals with the underlying emotions such as anger, sadness, denial, depression, hopelessness, etc. These emotions can often appear, resolve and re-appear at different times of life or during special occasions. Ultimately, acceptance and peace comes through the act of grieving which leads to reorganization.

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

Grief and loss are difficult parts of being human. There are so many stages of grief and loss and sometimes it can be difficult to cope with on your own. I use a compassionate approach that helps guide you through the stages with ease. We will work together to ensure you feel supported, heard and understood while you heal and recover from grief and loss.