Grief and Transitions

Grief
Grief support and life transition counseling can be beneficial to those who have experienced losses such as the death of a loved one, job loss, abortion or miscarriage, separation, divorce or loss of one’s health. Loss often generates debilitating symptoms that impact our ability to effectively cope. Depression, anxiety, sadness, helplessness, hopelessness, confusion, numbness, loneliness, guilt, or anger are common emotional responses. In addition, experiences of frequent crying, appetite change, sleep disturbances, social withdrawal, confusion, and an inability to concentrate can follow the experience.

Grief counselors are not exempt from our own loss experiences. In 2012, I lost my 14-year-old son in a bike accident. Before this, I thought I was equipped to manage grief and pain: I had experienced other significant losses in my life and had guided others through their own grief for years. I never could have imagined the journey I was about to embark upon. I did my work, felt my pain, sought my own support, and let the grief transform me into who I am today.
Over the course of this immensely difficult yet transformative journey, I learned:
• The only way to heal pain is to feel it, and this takes great courage.
• Every person’s grief process is as individual and unique as a snowflake.
• The deeper the love, the deeper the pain.
• Grief must be witnessed to be healed.
• Grief will transform us into stronger and wiser beings, if we allow it.

With an understanding of grief from both a personal and professional perspective, I am able to support my clients as we work together to clarify and resolve their grief. Additionally, I can assist clients with spiritually related issues, women’s issues, depression and anxiety, stress and relationship problems. My work is supportive, compassionate, educational, spiritual and gently guiding.

Transitions
Grief isn’t only experienced after the loss of a loved one. Grief is also the active process of moving through transitions in life. Marrying a partner. Having a baby—then one, two, or three more. Beginning a new career or losing a job. Moving to a new home, a new state, or a new country. Growing up and leaving home, or even returning home.

These are just a few ways grief enters our world. Grief requires our attention to begin the transition of letting go so we can actively embrace where we are and what is in front of us.