Rebecca Ballen MSW Good Grief

Who We Are

The Good Grief Therapy Centre

The Good Grief Therapy Centre was founded by Rebecca Ballen, MSW, RSW. After experiencing the overwhelming loss of her mother's passing she was inspired in her mother's honour to support others like herself find a way to move forward.

Coping with the loss of something or someone you love can be one of the biggest challenges you may face in your life. While often the most intense type of grief is associated with the death of a loved one, any loss can cause grief. Knowing this The Good Grief Therapy Centre also provides individual and group counselling for people who have also experienced:

Divorce or relationship breakup
Loss of health
Losing a job
Loss of financial stability
A miscarriage
Retirement
Death of a pet
Loss of a cherished dream
A loved one’s serious illness
Loss of a friendship
Loss of safety after a trauma
Selling the family home

Individuals grieve in different ways. In Rebecca's search for hope and healing she found that there are global trends in how people cope with loss. She and her team have taken the works from famed psychologists and researchers in the field and have created The Good Grief Therapy Centre which focuses on supporting those who have experienced loss to help them heal.

Individual Therapy

Our focus is to help individuals heal, energize, and become aware of their inner strengths. We achieve this by providing a neutral safe space, listening to your concerns, and customizing a treatment plan.

We promise to be there for you every step of your journey. Our goal is to help you grow from your struggles, heal from your pain, and move forward to where you want to be in your life.

Group Therapy

Join one of our support groups.

Grief can feel very lonely, even when you have loved ones around. Sharing your sorrow with others who have experienced similar losses can help.

To find out about our next bereavement support group in the GTA or the Niagara Region please contact the founder Rebecca Ballen at (647) 632-6868. If you would like support on starting a group at your local hospitals, hospices, funeral home, or place of work, please also give us a call.

Good Grief Therapy

Guiding Your Grief

Let us help you process your grief.

You may have heard of The Five the Stages Grief

(1) denial

(2) anger

(3) bargaining

(4) depression

(5) acceptance.

If you are experiencing any of these emotions following a loss, it may help to know that your reaction is natural and that you’ll heal in time.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to go through each stage in order to heal. And if you do, you probably won’t experience them in a neat, sequential order, so don’t worry about what you “should” be feeling or which stage you’re supposed to be in.

We will help you find a gentle path as you visit and/or revisit certain stages of the grief process.

The Bereavement Process Four Tasks of Mourning

We are committed to helping you cope with the death of a loved one. With our support we will help you to:

accept the reality of the loss
work through the pain of grief
adjust to life without the deceased
maintain a connection to the deceased while moving on with life

If your grief feels like too much to bear, we at The Good Grief Therapy Centre are a group of experienced grief counsellors, registered social workers and registered psychotherapist who can help you work through intense emotions and overcome obstacles to your grieving.

Loss-oriented & Restoration-oriented Activities

Most people will move back and forth between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented activities associated with bereavement.

Loss-oriented activities and stressors are those directly related to the death. These include:

Crying & Yearning

Experiencing sadness, denial, or anger

Dwelling on the circumstances of the death

Avoiding restoration activities

Restoration-oriented activities and stressors are associated with secondary losses. They may involve lifestyle, routine, and relationships. Restoration-oriented processes include:

Adapting to a new role

Managing changes in routine

Developing new ways of connecting with family and friends

Cultivating a new way of life.