I have been a hairdresser for almost 20 years, and I have always known that it wouldn’t be my lifelong career. I knew that at some point I would need to make a change to something less physically demanding.

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In 2016 I started working in an Independent Living Retirement home. I felt that I had found my second career, little did I know, that was only the first piece to the puzzle.

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In 2017, I started having severe panic attacks and was diagnosed with anxiety. My life completely changed, I had to take time off work, stopped doing things that I enjoyed and started implementing new habits to help combat the attacks. I truly felt like I had lost myself as a person and had to live this new life, as a new person that I didn’t know and wasn’t comfortable with.

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As the weeks went on, I found myself feeling unmotivated, forgetful, moody. Sometimes, I just felt completely lost. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling this way. It was during this time that I heard the term ‘disenfranchised grief’ and I learned that in life, we don’t just grieve because of death, we also grieve over intangible losses. I realized that I was grieving my old life, my old self.

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With this new knowledge, I saw grief everywhere, especially in the retirement home. I knew I wanted to help them, but I also knew that I needed to help myself first. I found the Grief Recovery Method and was able to use it to relieve some of the grief in my life, it felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. I then became certified so I could help others.

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I now have a passion for educating people about what grief really is, how and why it might be affecting their lives, and what they can do about it. I offer presentations, webinars, workshops, and programs for anyone who is hurting and looking to heal.

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To hear more about my journey with grief, visit my GRM microsite.