Grief Counselling
Grief can change the shape of everyday life. Following a loss, familiar routines, places and relationships may feel different, and the practical demands of the day can sit alongside feelings that are difficult to explain. Your experience may include sadness, anger, numbness, relief or emotions that change from one moment to the next.
At Maria Schmid & Partners, we offer grief counsellingfor people living with loss. This may follow the death of someone important to you or involve another significant loss, such as a relationship, health, work or an anticipated future.
Counselling offers time to speak about what has happened and how it is affecting you. Your relationship to the loss, personal history, beliefs and circumstances guide the conversation. There is room for what feels unresolved, as well as what you want to remember and carry forward.
Book an appointment or call 403-801-4839 for help choosing a counsellor.
When grief counselling may be helpful
You may want support when grief feels isolating, when other people expect you to have adjusted or when your feelings are difficult to share with those closest to you. Sleep, concentration, motivation and relationships can also be affected. Anniversaries, family events and further changes may bring the loss into focus again.
Some people seek counselling soon after a loss; others come much later. You may be grieving a complicated relationship, facing a loss that others do not recognise or trying to understand conflicting feelings. The importance of the loss to you is a useful starting point for deciding what support would help.
How we work with grief and loss
Your counsellor will listen to your account of the loss and the ways it has affected your life. The work can include expressing difficult feelings, reflecting on memories and considering changes in identity or relationships. Your cultural traditions, spirituality and personal ways of understanding loss can be included where they matter to you.
Counselling may also focus on everyday needs, such as managing responsibilities, asking for support or preparing for an occasion you expect to find difficult. These practical concerns can be explored alongside the meaning of the loss.
Grief varies between people and can change over time. We will work with your experience as it unfolds, with attention to both your connection to what has been lost and the demands of living in the present.
What to expect at your first appointment
At the first appointment, you can share as much of the story as feels useful to begin. Your counsellor may ask about the loss, the people supporting you and the parts of daily life that have become difficult. You can explain what you hope counselling will offer, even if that is simply time to speak openly.
Together, you can consider an initial focus and the kind of support that fits your circumstances. If grief is accompanied by significant changes in your health or functioning, your counsellor can discuss whether additional professional support would be helpful. You can also ask about confidentiality and appointment arrangements.
Meet the counsellors who specialize in Grief Counselling
Maria Schmid
Registered Psychologist
Maria is a registered psychologist who provides grief counselling following significant loss. She helps people reflect on what the loss has meant in their lives and make room for the changes it brings to their relationships and sense of direction.
Danielle Smith
Registered Psychologist
Dr. Smith is a registered psychologist who works with children, teens and families through emotional difficulties. Her family systems perspective can be useful when a loss affects people in the same household differently and family members need help understanding one another’s responses.
Tricia Thomas
Registered Psychologist
Tricia is a registered psychologist with experience working with grief, including loss affecting children and adolescents. Depending on the client’s age and needs, she may use conversation, story or play to help them express experiences that can be hard to put into words.
Nicole Berggren
Registered Psychologist
Nicole is a registered psychologist whose practice interests include grief and loss, alongside transitions in family life and parenthood. She takes a collaborative approach that gives clients room to talk about what has changed and how the loss is affecting their relationships and responsibilities.
Renata Logan
Registered Psychologist
Renata is a registered psychologist with experience in grief and bereavement. She gives clients space to explore how loss changes their sense of meaning and connection, with room for personal values and beliefs where those matter to them.
Jason Stein
Registered Social Worker
Jason is a registered social worker whose work includes supporting people through difficult family circumstances. His collaborative approach pays attention to the people and routines a client can turn to when a loss or major change makes everyday life harder to manage.
Sheri Sadowick
Counseling Therapist (AB), Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (BC)
Sheri is a counselling therapist who supports adults through difficult life changes and the effects of painful experiences. She works at the client’s pace and makes room to consider what support they need when familiar relationships or routines have changed.