Grief & Loss — Calgary & Alberta
Grief counselling
A place to carry loss without being rushed through it — bereavement, divorce, estrangement, diagnosis, or the life you thought you were going to have.
Grief is not a problem to be solved on a schedule. It is something to be carried, and it is far heavier when carried alone.
What grief work looks like
People around you mean well. A few weeks in, though, the casseroles stop, the calls thin out, and everyone quietly assumes you are through it. That is often exactly when grief gets loudest.
In sessions there is no expectation to be further along than you are. We make room for the whole of it — the sadness, the numbness, the guilt over the things left unsaid, the unexpected relief, the anger. Then we look at the practical side: sleep, appetite, work, and the relationships that are straining under it.
Grief and anxiety often arrive together, and if loss has left you frightened about health, safety or the future, that gets worked on directly too.
Sound familiar?
You might recognise some of this
- Everyone else seems to have moved on and you are still in it.
- You are functioning at work and falling apart at home.
- The loss was not a death, so you feel you have no right to grieve it.
- Sleep has gone, or you sleep and wake up just as tired.
- You are angry — at a person, at yourself, at God — and have nowhere to say it.
- Grief has resurfaced years later and taken you by surprise.
A counsellor who has sat with loss
Vince's chaplaincy training and pastoral background mean he has spent a great deal of time beside people in the worst weeks of their lives. He also speaks from his own experience of loss and of wondering whether there was any hope left.
Sessions run 60 minutes, online across Alberta or in person in Calgary. For some people, grief work is easier walking than sitting — the Walk and Talk sessions in Redwood Meadows exist for exactly that.
CPE, B.A (Religion), MDiv, M.A (Counselling) — Registered Psychotherapist
Questions
Common questions
- How soon after a loss should I come in?
- There is no correct timing. Some people come within days because they need somewhere to put it. Others come years later when grief resurfaces. Both are legitimate reasons to book.
- Is grief counselling only for bereavement?
- No. Divorce, job loss, a diagnosis, infertility, estrangement and the loss of a life you expected to have all produce real grief, and all belong in this work.
- What if my grief is tangled up with my faith?
- That is common, and it is welcome. Vince has chaplaincy training (CPE, CPC I) alongside his clinical credentials, so anger at God, unanswered prayer and questions of meaning can all be spoken out loud here.
- Will you try to move me on before I am ready?
- No. The pace is yours. The aim is not to close grief off but to make room for both the sorrow and, eventually, the hope.
Next step
Start with a free 15 minute conversation
No cost, no pressure, online. We talk briefly about what you are carrying and whether it is a good fit for us to work together.