Grief Counseling For Widows

IN ANN ARBOr & online therapy ACROSS MICHIGAN, CONNECTICUT, FLORIDA, Illinois, INDIANA, OHIO & SOUTH CAROLINA.

While I was studying abroad in college and living with a host family in Central America, my host brother fondly called me the “devoradora de libros,” a play on a recent movie we’d seen together. It is true, I am an avid reader, or “devourer of books.” Here I am with a stack of them- both memoirs and personal accounts as well as others rooted in science and clinical research.

After losing my young husband when I was 30 years old, I made it my mission to better understand the universal experience of grief that we don’t often talk about, including in graduate therapy programs! These books were some that shed light along the way. In my own journey, I realized how lonely, isolating, and misunderstood widowed grief could feel and wanted to do what I could to accompany others on their own journeys.

I may be a book worm and a self-described “grief nerd,” but trust that therapy with me is not dry or boring, but infused with compassion and humor. Tune in to a recent podcast episode where I talk with Stacy Francis of Francis Financial about how I help my widowed clients move through their grief:

Our paths often take a more winding and unpredictable route than the linear one we plan for… Mine has been no different. Becoming a widow in my early 30s (after losing my father in my early 20s) has made me no stranger to grief.

When I tell you it’s possible to rise from the ashes of your own seismic life events, I know it’s true.

These losses have shaped who I am today and how I see the world. And they shape how I approach the work of therapy and counseling, particularly when working with clients experiencing grief and loss. I see life and loss through a lens of both personal experience and professional expertise developed over the past 17 years. You’ll rarely hear me tell you what you “should“ do, but rest assured that I’ll always offer sound advice and guidance.