Grief Coaching vs. Grief Counselling. Is Coaching Right For Me?

You may be wondering what the difference is between Grief Coaching versus Grief Counselling, especially if you are unfamiliar with Life Coaching. Both are very helpful for processing grief however they are very distinct from one another.

In simple terms counselling typically deals more with processing feelings of the past where as coaching is more future focused. Personally I have found both to be very helpful at different times in my life. During my journey of grief I worked with a grief counsellor, grief support groups as well as coaches.

What I found to be most frustrating and why I am doing the work I am doing to support widowed Mother’s just like you is that in my experience while the grief counsellor I worked with was educated in dealing with grief she had not personally experience a loss of anyone as close to her as her spouse. When I participated in grief support groups most of the group had lost distant related loved ones or in some cases there were other widows but typically had lost their spouse later in life. What I found most helpful was the support of Life Coaches to help me deal with my loss powerfully however yet there was still that missing piece that they had not experienced the kind of loss that I had.

So in all of these scenarios while they all proved to be helpful I was always left feeling alone that there was no one that could fully understand what it was like to not just lose a loved one but at the same time support grieving children and deal with all the consequences of having to raise a family on my own. Few people I knew had to deal with the sudden reality of going from being a stay at home mom to going back to work, dealing with the financial strain of being the solo income provider and managing all of this in half of the time as other families because I was also the only one to take care of the children with little to no support.

I felt so alone and mis-understood. If you can relate to any of this then you might be asking yourself, what is the difference between working with a grief counsellor or a grief coach such as me and is working with a coach the right fit for me and what I am looking for.

Coaching may not be for you if…

• You want to stay stuck in the past
• You want to remain a victim of your circumstances
• You want to be problem focused
• You are looking for advise

Coaching may be the right fit for you if…

• Are willing to be seen as perfect, whole and complete exactly as you are without judgement.
• You want support in clarifying your vision and what it will take to achieve your goals
• You are looking to look forward and recreate a new life that includes more joy and happiness
• You want to find ways to honour your grief and lost loved one in special ways
• You are willing to have someone speak straight to you when that is what it takes to support you in creating what you REALLY want in life
• You want accountability to support you in creating more clarity and achieving your goals and to hold you to account
• You want someone who will be on your side, empower you to be your best self and live your best life.
• You want someone to encourage self discovery and self care
• You are ready to be solution focused
• You are willing to be guided towards finding your own solutions within
• You are ready to honour where you are at and also take forward moving actions in your life

If you are ready to recreate your life as a Widowed Mom with the support of coach that can get what you are dealing with than I would love to connect with you on the phone to see if we are a fit for each other. Feel free to book a free sample coaching session and an opportunity to ask any questions.

Feeling Stuck Quiz