Grief counseling
When loss changes everything, there is no rush. Grief has its own shape, rhythm, and pace. We follow it.
Grief counseling is for the gaping emptiness that exists where someone or something once was. It’s for the love, the loss, the confusion, the ache, the waves crashing, and all the tangled feelings in between that nobody seems to understand. If you've landed here, I'm guessing you're not looking for someone to walk you through the "five stages" or tell you when you should be "over it." You don’t want to have to explain and justify anything. You're looking for something real. Someone who gets that grief isn't a problem to fix but a fire to walk through, together.
I offer grief counseling for adults navigating the messy, complicated, doesn't-fit-in-a-box kind of loss. Whether you're grieving a parent, a child, a marriage, an estrangement, or a quieter loss that the world doesn't acknowledge, I'm here. I offer both online sessions and in-person sessions in Layton, UT, and I'll meet you exactly where you are.
When Grief Gets Tangled
Here's the thing about grief that nobody talks about at funerals: sometimes it's complicated. No matter the kind of loss - it is probably going to have some barbs. We humans are not one dimensional - our grief won’t be either.
Let’s say you're grieving a parent whose death brought sorrow and relief in the same breath. Sometimes you're mourning a relationship that died long before the person did. Sometimes the loss brings new complications with siblings, step parents, the surviving parent - it's a whole new layer of grief on top of grief. It’s messy, can carry shame, and feels gut wrenching blow after you just got knocked down. Sometimes you feel love and rage and guilt and freedom all at once, and you wonder if you're losing your mind.
You're not. You're human. And this tangled, contradictory, impossible-to-explain grief? This is exactly what I work with.
If you grew up as the peacekeeper, the parentified kid, the one holding everyone else together, grief hits differently. You might be mourning not just a person but the relationship you needed and never got. You might be trying to make sense of the incredible love you feel, while grappling with the painful truth: sometimes that love came with an incredible burden to bear. You might be seeing the family dysfunction clearly for the first time, now that they're gone. That clarity can feel like relief and devastation wrapped into one.
And then there's the living parent. If that relationship is caught in the same patterns, you might be facing an impossible question: How do I finally become myself if it means losing them too? I hold this crossroads with tremendous care. It's one of the bravest, hardest paths to walk.
I start from one core belief: there's nothing wrong with you. Whatever's showing up (the numbness, the anger, the dark humor, the days you can't get out of bed) it all makes sense. Your grief is intelligent. Your nervous system is doing exactly what it learned to do to survive.
I also trust that pain, when met with tenderness, will lead us exactly where we need to go. Pain that gets ignored? It eats you alive. It builds walls. It leaks out sideways in anxiety, depression, and patterns that keep you stuck. But pain that gets witnessed, held, and understood? That transforms.
Our work together won't be you sitting in the spotlight, trying to perform your grief while I observe from a distance. I've traveled through many losses myself - I know what it means to sit together in silence as the unspeakable reverberates. You don’t need to explain, pretend, or protect me from the ways your grief wants to be known.
How I Work
Dark humor? Bring it. Rage? Hell yes. Silence? I’m here. I will tend the fire with you, offering presence, gentle curiosity, while being ever attuned to what's happening between us in real time. I use our connection as support, to help you find your way through this. While I can’t do it for you - it is your path to walk . . .you don’t have to do it alone. This is how we will follow the shape, flow, and timbre of your grief.
I bring a deep embodied presence. While I may incorporate somatic therapy, dance/movement therapy, authentic movement, therapeutic writing, and parts work into our sessions - I don’t have an agenda or a one-tool-fits all approach. I trust the moment to guide us. Grief lives in your body (your chest, your throat, your gut) and we'll work with all of it. I also bring playfulness, creativity, and warmth. Because diving into hard stuff doesn't mean we can't breathe, laugh, or find unexpected moments of lightness along the way.
You've Already Tried So Hard
If you're here, you've probably already done the work. Read the books. Pushed through. Stayed strong. You know how to try, and trying has been your superpower.
But here's the painful truth: you can't outwork grief. The harder you push, the more it persists. Part of what we'll do together is learn to surrender to the waves. We will grab the surfboard together. . . maybe we paddle until our arms are tired in order to get over the break. Maybe we lie on our backs, feel the warmth of the sun and rest. Some days the waves are going to be bigger, stronger - they will crash over you, churn you up, and slam you into the ground. Other days they will gently rock you to sleep. We will ride them all, finding moments of ease and rest. It’s about letting grief move through you instead of muscling past it. For someone who's survived by staying in control, this can feel terrifying. It's also often exactly what's needed.
Located at:
Layton, UT
FAQs About Grief Counseling
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If grief is affecting your daily life, relationships, or sense of self, or if your feelings about your loss are complicated and confusing, grief counseling can help. You don't need to be in crisis to reach out. You just need to be ready for support.
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Complicated grief happens when your relationship with the person (or situation) you lost was complex and layered. Conflicting emotions, unresolved issues, enmeshment, estrangement: these all create grief that doesn't follow a neat path. Sometimes you bear some responsibility for the loss; grappling with this truth without drowning is hard.
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Grief doesn't follow a timeline - neither does our work. Some people feel shifts in a few months; others benefit from longer support. We'll check in regularly and follow your lead.
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Absolutely. Grief doesn't expire. Many people carry unprocessed loss for decades. It's never too late to finally give it the attention it deserves.
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Grief counseling covers all significant losses: divorce, job loss, estrangement, health changes, identity shifts. These losses deserve just as much care and attention.
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Grief lives in your body, not just your mind. Somatic work helps you access and release what words can't reach, especially when grief feels stuck or frozen.
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Relief is incredibly common, especially after complicated relationships. It doesn't make you a bad person - it means you’re human. We'll explore all your feelings without judgment.
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Nope. Grief shows up differently for everyone. We'll follow what feels right for you, whether that's words, movement, writing, or silence.
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Yes. Grief, anxiety, and depression often travel together. Addressing the underlying loss frequently brings relief to all three.
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After our free consultation, we spend three sessions getting to know each other and exploring how we work together. Then we decide if we want to continue. If so, we will schedule weekly sessions.
Let's Begin
We start with a free consultation, just a conversation to see if this feels right. If it does, I ask for three sessions to begin. That gives us time to get to know each other and see how we work together. At the end of those three sessions, we decide if we want to keep going.
I offer both online sessions and in-person sessions in Layton, UT. Reach out to schedule your consultation. Grief can be heavy. You've carried this long enough, and you don't have to do it alone.