Vision & Values

My Value and Mission

As a Certified Grief Educator and motivational speaker/presenter, my mission is to help individuals recognize and acknowledge their death and non-death losses.  Grief is a natural, but often overlooked, human reaction to a loss. You are not crazy, and you are not broken; and you WILL get through this! These losses do not have to be a death of a loved one.  Losses can be in the form of divorce, a catastrophe, life transitions, retirement, and health concerns.  My role is to help people understand their grief and the grief process.  In other words, I like to help people unwrap their grief and eventually embrace the gift which brings hope to the circumstances.

My Areas of Expertise

Two areas that really get my blood pumping is around perinatal loss and helping immigrants adjust to Canadian life despite their compound and cumulative losses.  As a recent graduate of the Perinatal Grief and Loss Certification Program, my compassion is for those people who have suffered the unimaginable loss of a child through miscarriage or stillbirth.  I would like to help people find ceremonies to help with their grieving and to find meaning while grieving fully.

As an ESL instructor for over 20 years, I have made it my mission to help immigrants integrate more fully into Canadian life.  Cultural shock is seen as inevitable, but it is also mistakenly viewed as a single event.  I help teachers, support workers as well as the newcomer see that culture shock is over a longer period with many cumulative losses.  Teachers will appreciate the physical, mental, and emotional toll these losses have on learning and adjusting to Canadian life.

My Superpower

As pastor’s wife for over 15 years, there has never been a shortage of having a front row seat of the life’s sorrows of our congregants.  On the flip side, often pastors and ministry leaders do not have the time, nor sometimes the awareness to be able to acknowledge their losses.  These variables can lead to compassion fatigue and possible burnout in ministry.  I want to encourage pastors and ministry leaders to identify their pain, to incorporate the experience into the fabric of their lives, and to infuse their ministry and life with hope.  It is my desire and passion to recognize each person’s unique loss and help them recognize that grief can be a gift, even though it may be the million-dollar experience you wouldn’t pay a nickel for.