Grief can touch so many parts of our life at once — our emotions, thoughts, relationships, sense of meaning, and daily life.
It doesn’t always look the way we expect or follow a clear path.
While grief is always a unique journey, you do not need to move through it alone.
There are many faces of loss.
Relationship losses – including the death of a loved one, separation, divorce, death of a pet or ending of a close friendship. They may be traumatic, such as a sudden or violent death. Or they may occur slowly over time, such as the losses associated with the illness of a loved one.
Personal losses – such as the loss of a dream, job, home, or one’s health.
Unacknowledged losses – sometimes our losses are public and we have the support of family and friends.
But at other times, they may be private, such as a miscarriage, abortion or infertility.
Understanding Grief & Loss
Grief is no longer understood as something we move through in prescribed stages and eventually “get over.” Instead, it is an ongoing process of learning how to live with loss while we move forward in our lives.
Rather than letting go, many people find that healing involves staying connected — to the person who has died, to what the relationship meant, and to the parts of themselves that have been shaped by that loss.
Grief often moves back and forth between moments of feeling the loss deeply and moments of engaging with life again. It may also raise questions of meaning, identity, and, for some people, spirituality or faith.
Over time, people begin to make sense of how their life has changed, while still holding a connection to what has been lost.
Counselling can provide a space where grief is recognized and supported without pressure to move through it in a particular way or timeline.
How Counselling Can Help
- Identify and acknowledge your own experience of loss
- Move through the many difficult feelings associated with loss, such as sadness, anger, numbness, hopelessness, guilt and loneliness
- Find ways to remember and honour a loved one who has died, and to carry that connection forward in a way that supports healing
- Make sense of your loss and accept the new direction it has shaped for your life
- Help you draw on your own emotional, mental, and spiritual resources as part of healing
Our Therapeutic Approaches
We draw on a range of evidence-based approaches, grounded in a flexible, collaborative, and client-centred way of working that adapts to what is most helpful for you.
This allows us to shape our work around your experience, supporting a process that honours your loss and unfolds at a pace that feels right for you, drawing from different therapeutic modalities as needed. Learn more about our approach to care.
Grief and Bereavement Therapy
This approach focuses on helping individuals acknowledge loss, process the emotional impact of grief, and find ways to honour and remember what has been lost.
Meaning-Centred Grief Work
This work helps people explore how the loss has changed their life story and how a new sense of meaning can gradually emerge after loss.
Emotion-Focused Therapy
Emotion-focused approaches support people in safely experiencing and understanding the complex emotions that accompany grief.
Compassion-Focused and Strength-Based Therapy
These approaches help individuals develop self-compassion and draw on their own emotional and personal resources while navigating grief.
Grief can feel isolating, but you do not have to move through it alone.
At River’s Edge Counselling Centre, our therapists provide compassionate support for individuals experiencing grief and loss.
With time, support, and understanding, many people begin to find ways to remember what has been lost while also moving forward in life.
Also learn more about our upcoming Grief Groups for children and adults in St. Albert, AB.
Our Counsellors Who Work With Grief & Loss
Niamh Keyes
Kerry Bezzanno
Emily Collins
Cynthia Smith
Grief can arise around many different losses and can take many forms, unfolding differently for each person. Each person has a unique process of loss and of healing. Together, we will hold space to gently meet your grief and go at a pace that feels supportive and manageable. Through a compassionate and nonjudgmental presence, I offer a safe space where your experience can emerge and be explored. Drawing on mindfulness-based and body-centered techniques, I support individuals to examine their inner experiences and explore how past experiences, beliefs and relational patterns shape their grief, working towards a more integrated understanding of oneself and one's experience of grief.
Lori Tiemer
Rebecca Bonham
Journey Through Grief: Touchstones of Hope
Heartstrings: A journey towards hope and healing
Four Sessions for Children 6-12yrs
Webinars on This Topic
Frequently Asked Questions About Grief & Bereavement Counselling
No. Grief can arise from many types of losses, including relationship changes, health concerns, infertility, miscarriage, and other life transitions.
Grief does not follow a fixed timeline. Each person experiences grief differently, and counselling supports individuals in moving through the process at their own pace.
Some losses are private or unacknowledged. Counselling provides a space where those experiences can be recognized and supported.
Not necessarily. Counselling moves at a pace that feels manageable and supportive for each person.
Yes. Children often experience grief differently than adults, and supportive counselling can help them express and understand their feelings.