As a Grief Counselor and CBT Coach Practitioner, my goal is to help those who are living with unresolved emotional pain. I feel hopeful when I see painful emotion transformed. Healing takes place when you communicate what you have been holding in your body, mind and spirit as trauma. By listening to your own needs, you can begin to develop a healthy response to your emotions and cultivate compassionate self-awareness.

With everything we're going through right now, many of us have experienced losses that are very real - but don't fit our narrow view of grief. Loss of identity, loss of safety, loss of hopes and dreams. Recognize them and give yourself permission to grieve.

We give them our hearts and they - well, they give us their all. It’s no wonder that when it is time to say goodbye to a much-loved furry family member, we feel their loss so deeply. We look for them when we come home, we listen for their footsteps, we long to snuggle in their fur and look into their eyes. We may have shared with them things we would never tell another soul. Why are we afraid to say that our heart is broken by their loss? They were not “just” a pet - they were our devoted companion. When we held them or they lovingly returned our gaze, our bodies released a healthy dose of feel-good hormones. Beyond physiological reasons that losing a pet hurts so much, the pain of their loss - the breaking of a bond that can break our hearts - delves into much deeper issues of life and the fact that their trust in us can bring out better versions of ourselves.

When we suffer a loss, we usually have the support of friends and family. But what about when we find that our grief needs to be hidden? When our pain is dismissed by others, no matter the reason, we feel that we have to hide our sorrow. This is disenfranchised grief and it can lead to feelings of being misunderstood by others and a sense that we are alone in our pain. Such unresolved sadness leaves the griever at risk for mental health conditions, such as depression or complicated grief. The bottom line is that your grief is valid, no matter the circumstances of your loss. In a world full of complicated relationships, who or what you grieve should not be determined by others. Find support from those willing to help you through the grieving process. Remember there are no rules to grief and no one can tell you that what you’re feeling isn’t real.