Separation and Divorce Counselling
The end of a relationship can affect many parts of life at once. Alongside grief, anger or relief, you may be managing changes to your home, finances, parenting arrangements and sense of identity. Even when separation is a decision you have made carefully, adjusting to its consequences can take time.
At Maria Schmid & Partners, we offer separation and divorce counselling in Calgary to support you through these changes. You may be considering a separation, in the middle of the process or working through its effects after the practical arrangements have been settled.
Counselling provides space to explore your experience, identify the support you need and consider how you want to move forward. The work can focus on immediate concerns as well as questions about relationships, parenting and your next stage of life.
Book an appointment or call 403-801-4839 for help choosing a counsellor.
When separation and divorce counselling may help
You may be struggling with loss, loneliness, uncertainty or recurring conflict. Difficult conversations, changes in family relationships or the demands of rebuilding daily routines can leave you with little room to process your own feelings. Some people seek support when the relationship's ending brings up earlier experiences or affects confidence in future relationships.
If you are a parent, you may also want help thinking about your child's emotional needs and your own responses during a difficult transition. Counselling can support reflection on communication and boundaries, with attention to the circumstances that make contact with a former partner appropriate or difficult.
How we support you through the transition
Your counsellor will begin with your current priorities. Early work may focus on coping with strong emotions, finding support and making daily life more manageable. As the work develops, you may explore the meaning of the relationship, patterns you want to understand and what you need as you rebuild.
Where parenting is involved, conversations can include routines, family changes and ways of responding to children's questions and feelings. Any joint or family sessions require careful consideration of suitability and safety. Individual support may be the appropriate starting point.
The focus is your emotional well-being and the relationships affected by the transition. Legal decisions and formal parenting arrangements can be addressed with the relevant professionals, while counselling gives you space to process their personal effects and consider your responses.
What to expect at your first appointment
You can begin by describing where you are in the separation process and what feels most difficult at present. Your counsellor may ask about your current living situation, support network, parenting responsibilities and any immediate concerns about safety or conflict.
The first appointment can help establish whether individual counselling or another form of support best fits your needs. Together, you can identify a manageable focus and discuss confidentiality, the proposed approach and practical arrangements. The pace can reflect the demands you are facing and your capacity to engage with difficult material.
Meet the counsellors who specialize in Separation and Divorce Counselling
Maria Schmid
Registered Psychologist
Maria is a registered psychologist who provides counselling to people navigating separation and divorce. She helps clients make sense of the changes in their relationships, routines and sense of identity, and consider what support they need as they adjust.
Danielle Smith
Registered Psychologist
Dr. Smith is a registered psychologist who works with families facing conflict and strain in parent–child relationships. Her systemic approach can help family members consider how a change at home affects each person and what would make communication more manageable.
Tricia Thomas
Registered Psychologist
Tricia is a registered psychologist who works with children, adolescents and families through relationship difficulties and change. She draws on developmentally appropriate ways of helping young people describe their experience of changes at home.
Nicole Berggren
Registered Psychologist
Nicole is a registered psychologist whose work focuses on caregiver well-being and relationships within families. She helps parents reflect on what they and their children need when changes at home place more demands on their capacity to care for one another.
Renata Logan
Registered Psychologist
Renata is a registered psychologist with training in family and marital therapy and experience supporting adults through life changes. Her approach makes room to explore what a relationship has meant to you and how its changing role affects the rest of your life.
Jason Stein
Registered Social Worker
Jason is a registered social worker with experience supporting families affected by high-conflict divorce. His collaborative approach helps clients identify patterns of conflict, consider their responses and set practical goals for navigating difficult interactions.
Sheri Sadowick
Counseling Therapist (AB), Registered Therapeutic Counsellor (BC)
Sheri is a counselling therapist who supports adults affected by harmful relationships and intimate partner violence. Her work takes account of personal safety, the responsibilities of caregiving and the practical adjustments involved in rebuilding daily life after a difficult relationship.