Grief and Loss Counselling in Toronto, ON.

Grief and loss can affect every part of a person’s life, and each individual experiences it in their own way and at their own pace. In my work with clients, I often draw on the Tasks of Mourning approach developed by J. William Worden, which focuses on helping individuals process the reality of a loss, work through the pain of grief, adjust to life without their loved one, and find ways to maintain a meaningful connection while continuing to move forward. While this framework is helpful, I do not take a rigid or one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, I adapt therapy to each client’s unique experience, providing a compassionate, supportive space where emotions can be expressed openly and withou

Being alive means experiencing inevitable loss, which is normally followed by grief and recovery. The loss can be the loss of a person, image, ideal, or even a hope. However, the grief and recovery can sometimes be complicated. Every person follows a unique pattern of grief processing. The key for a healthy recovery lies in understanding this pattern in a supported environment. The therapy is about helping the client to get to this insight. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we are a good fit.

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.

Grieving doesn’t follow a timeline, and no two experiences are the same. Whether you’re coping with the death of a loved one, miscarriage, relationship loss, or a major life transition, therapy can help you process the pain without rushing your healing. At Rooted in Resilience, we create a compassionate space where you can honour your loss, express your emotions freely, and slowly reconnect with hope. Together, we’ll explore meaning, memory, and what it looks like to carry grief while still moving forward.

Grief often disrupts a person’s sense of identity, meaning, and the future. In my work with grief and loss, I draw on meaning-centered approaches influenced by Robert Neimeyer’s work in grief therapy, the concept of continuing bonds, and elements of Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy. Rather than encouraging clients to “move on” from a loss, we explore how the relationship with the person who has died or the life that has changed can continue to hold meaning, especially if the loss is close, and the client was the caregiver. Therapy focusses on helping you make sense of the loss, integrate it into your life story, and discover ways to carry the connection forward in a way that supports your resilie

As someone who has experienced loss and studied loss, I understand how unique and different everyone's experience with it is. Grief can be one of the most complex and complicated of human experiences and can occur with or without a tangible loss. Using a person centered and strengths based foundation, I will hold space with you and aid you in navigating these complex feelings at your own pace.

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 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.

I offer a safe, trusting and empathic space to honour your loss and support you to learn how to lean in, connect, and open to the grieving process. We all experience grief in our lifetimes; each of our journeys is unique. The conversation about it creates a sense of commonality; you are not alone. Whether you have lost someone you love, a pet, a friendship, a job, identity, or moved cities/countries, your journey is your own. Grief is the response we have to loss and is unique to each of us. We work together to move through it. I provide an integrated, personalized approach that draws on effective modalities, so you receive the support you uniquely need to move forward.

Loss can be experienced in many different ways, for example, the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, losing abilities that one would normally have, etc. Grief is a very personal journey, and there is no set time line for how long you are to grieve. You will experience a range of emotions, including: denial, anger, sadness, depression, hoplessness, and you may even try to bargain with yourself or God. If you are experiencing any of these feelings, I assure you, my office is a safe place to process your grief. I will walk beside you and help you process your journey.

If you are dealing with grief and loss, I am here to support you. Whether you are struggling with overwhelming feelings or you do not know what to feel, the therapeutic space I am offering is one of validation, compassion, and curiosity. We will work together to process your experience in a way that is meaningful to you, changing our approach as your grief changes. Processing grief is rarely easy, but I will be with you every step of the way to witness and support your experience.

You are hurting right now, and I understand that. Grief has a way of making even ordinary days feel heavy, and you do not have to carry it alone. I have lived through grief and loss many times myself, and in more than three decades of practice I have sat with many people in exactly this kind of pain. Let us talk about what you are feeling. I have been a psychologist since 1986, and I can help. I am based in Calgary and see clients across Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick by secure video. Book a session now: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=14249112

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.