Grief and Loss Counselling in Toronto, ON.

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.

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!

There is a myriad of reasons we experience grief, ...from a career loss, the death of a loved one, or facing a terminal or chronic illness. It's really not the event that hurts, it's how our brains decide to deal with the event. Integrated psychotherapy and coaching helps - particularly as I have 'been there, done that.' Talk with someone who really gets it. I've been through all of the above and come out the other end content. I even recently was diagnosed with cancer and after a winter of chemo and radiation and am glad to say the doctors tell me we have it beat! And from the moment I heard the word cancer, I knew things would be ok. How so? Give me a call and let's talk.

Grief brings the hardest combination of all feelings - despair, anger, fear and love. It can right leave us with unmanagable pain, feeling disoriented and questioning everything. Sometimes it feels too painful to step back into the world that dares to carry on as if nothing happened. Sometimes we need someone to remind us that it is a place we are passing through and not a destination. We offer gentle guidance and strong support through grief. We work with you find ways to make sense of you loss, learn to manage your feelings in new ways and find your way back into life again.

While deep pain honors the loss of important relationships, it creates a heavy burden for the one who carries it. I help people move the deep wound of loss while retaining the positive, life enhancing qualities of loving relationships. Whether illness, divorce, death or other traumas are now causing grief that interferes with joyful living, I can help you actually remove the pain and heal your heart, using cutting edge therapeutic strategies that affect you at the deepest level.

Grief and loss are frequently a root cause of substance abuse, addiction and disorders. The grief process tends to deplete a person's resources, taking up a great deal of their physical, mental, and emotional energy. The absence is not the only thing they are mourning. Their plans, dreams and wishes have changed, and they are being required to let go of the future they anticipated. The phases of mourning include a desire to reverse the loss, feelings of pain and chaos, and the reordering of one's life. At Valiant Recovery, clients receive personalized grief counseling tailored to their needs, as well as specialized sessions on grief and loss.

Grief and loss are normal, universal emotional experiences, but there is a tendency to get stuck in depression or anxiety rather than feel the sadness involved with loss. That’s understandable, because suffering is painful and difficult to bear alone. A therapist can support an individual with strategies for finding hope that a broken heart will mend. The aim is to build trust that, by allowing the expression of these feelings, the energy spent on suffering can be freed and reinvested back into creating a fulfilling life. As you do with a broken shoulder, you pay attention to the pain and attend to it in healthy ways while nature takes its course, allowing broken bones or hearts to heal.

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.

Clients who are experiencing grief and loss can benefit from a better understanding of how the deep emotions and feelings can support new growth and ways at looking at the world. By considering elements of the experience through memory, dreams, and reflections, great power and strength can be found. Grief and loss are normal and healthy states of being, as long as they don't overwhelm and debilitate, understanding them in the context of therapy will not only benefit the individual but those around them and generations to come.

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.

Dealing with grief requires addressing the many layers of life that grief touches. Facing the loss of a loved one can also bring up reminders of other losses we have experienced - some of which may still feel unresolved, and are now coming to the surface along with the acute pain that the current situation brings. Since grief is ultimately about loss of connection, my approach involves finding unique ways of "reconnecting" and healing the wounds that can be left behind when a painful loss has been experienced. I provide a safe and compassionate environment to assist in healing through grief and understanding all aspects of the grieving process as it evolves.

Grief is a natural process, and part of being human. However, it can be a lonely process, and debilitating. I am here to listen, to feel with you, and to share where in your life you have experienced loss. As someone who has experienced loss, I understand the many ways it can impact our lives. There is no one way, or "right" way to grieve. There is YOUR way.

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.