Grief and Loss Counselling in Toronto, ON.

I work with clients experiencing loss, grief and bereavement. The process of adapting to a significant loss can vary dramatically from one person to another. It can involve yearning, anger, regret, guilt and sadness. Emotions can be overwhelming and confusing. Social support is often vital to recovery. I offer a safe space where your feelings and memories can be explored without judgements and where new possibilities emerge.

Life is fragile. At any moment our life can be turned upside down by the loss of a loved one. If you are suffering from a loss, I will support you and offer you a safe place in which to express your grief. My approach is based on an understanding of the dynamics of loss, combined with my own experience in handling loss in my life. Loss can take other forms as well...such as the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship, or the loss of health. Together we will discuss your pain and come to understand the impact your loss has had on you. We will then develop new ways to manage your loss so that you can move forward again.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Sadness is a feeling, Grieving is a process. We all feel sad at times but when we're faced with difficult circumstances and loss there's much more than sadness. Understanding the process of grieving in the context of your own life, give you the tools to create a solid base for a brighter future. We know we can grieve for loved ones who pass on, but we grieve throughout our lives for various paths un-travelled. The loss of a job, the end of a relationship, etc. Answering the question: "What now?" and turning our lives around in a constructive and courageous way, is my approach to this transformational work. You too can make it through this process.

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.

Loss is like the experience of having the air knocked out of us: it leaves us gasping and in shock. Whether through death,separation or divorce, loss of a career,death of a beloved pet or the moving away of a child for university: loss brings about a change to our relationships both within and outside of ourselves. It alters how we see ourselves and the roles we play for others. We need to give ourselves the opportunity to grieve and come to terms with what has changed. In allowing ourselves the time and space to say goodbye we create a new space within us, to hold our old relationships, and that is something that cannot be lost or taken away.

Letting go of a lost dear one, either by death or ending of a relationship can be extremely painful. We are often left in disbelief, sometimes denial and anger that may stop us from moving forward. The sadness and hopelessness may be paralysing. I will support you in acknowledging the anger, unfinished business, and/or hopelessness and fear. Overtime through therapy, you will transition to a place of having the courage to process your emotions, accepting and making peace with it, and slowly seeing choices and possibilities.

Clients come to me experiencing many forms of grief and loss- death, illness, job loss, a big move. Everyone experiences losses and grieves in their own unique way. Being able to experience your grief is immensely healthy and an vital to finding peace and healing. In therapy, you'll have the support you need to do just that, while simultaneously discovering the meaningfulness and sense of purpose you need to move forward.