Grief Counseling in Toronto
Your world has changed. You have changed. Your future is uncertain. You are engulfed by pain, and cannot imagine ever feeling better.
You may imagine yourself in a deep, dark hole, with no means or motivation to get out.
Life’s activities seem irrelevant. It’s impossible to imagine feeling joy again.
Perhaps you’ve been caregiving for so long that you do not know what to do with yourself. Or, you don’t know who you are outside of that role.
The loss may have left you feeling hollow, empty, and without any idea of how to fill yourself up again.
You have questions:
Will I always be sad? What does my future hold? How can I possibly go on living my life?
These are heavy questions and they’re difficult to navigate alone.
Having a therapist walk beside you and help carry your grief can get you through the darkness.
Everyone experiences loss. It’s part of being human.
It can feel isolating, and you may feel alone in your grief. But loss can come in all forms (loss of loved ones, or relationships, of roles, etc), and is universal.
Some experiences that people who are grieving may have:
-extreme sadness, being emotionally overwhelmed
-sense of hopelessness; numbness
-loss of appetite and energy
-difficulty sleeping
-ruminating
-feelings of guilt, shame, anger, resentment
-feeling misunderstood and alone
Despite it being a complicated and non-linear process, your loss can indeed be worked through.
Have questions? Just ask!
Healing comes from building a life around the loss.
Grief therapy can help you get there.
I can support you in your grief and, together, we can move you towards:
-allowing space to grieve and process the loss
-validating the memory
-processing and accepting difficult emotions that arise
-reducing rumination that can impede your ability to move forward, can cause anxiety, and may impact your relationships
-identify what kind of future you would like to strive for, despite this loss
We will take the time to explore what is most helpful to you.
Not everyone responds to the same approach, which is why the grief support I provide is through a client-centred lens.
Approaches and focus areas I may draw from include:
-Mindfulness approaches to help you stay present and be aware of feelings/sensations/thought, to help you learn to tolerate challenging feelings, and to help you not become overwhelmed
-Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, to help get to a place of accepting that life has changed, and then exploring your values in order to build a fulfilling life
-Narrative Therapy to help understand the stories of your life and what has been lost, as well as what stories you may be telling yourself
-Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to help address unhelpful thoughts and assumptions that can impact feelings and behaviours
-specific grief therapy approaches designed to honour and remember who and what has been lost
-building a trusting, therapeutic relationship within a non-judgemental context
But, can grief counseling really help me?
Can’t I just push through this on my own?
You have spent a life of proud independence, and do not want to have to rely on someone else now. Just because you can manage difficult things alone, does not mean you have to. Let me help you carry the grief and provide a space where you can reduce the heaviness of it.
Won’t therapy just make me more sad?
Avoiding pain does not make it disappear. It can make it stronger. Or, it can manifest in other ways (irritability, anger, isolation).
The sadness is already there. Therapy can give it space so its impact can be lessened and so it does not overwhelm you, as well as give you tools to manage difficult emotions.
The loss will still be there. What’s the point of therapy?
Grief counselling isn’t about eliminating the loss. It’s about honouring the loss, making sense of what you’re experiencing, and taking what is valuable forward as you continue to live your life.
There is life after the loss.
If you’re struggling, please reach out. You don’t need to make a commitment to therapy. Simply fill out the contact form or give me a call to set up a free 15 minute consultation. We can go from there. It’ll be your decision.
1 Munro St, Toronto, ON M4M 2B7, Canada
In-Person and Virtual Sessions available for residents of Toronto, ON