Jennifer Kasander, Advanced Certified Grief Recovery Specialist
“The grieving process is not easy, but it is normal and natural. There are so many myths that keep us in pain. Grief is cumulative, especially when we don’t deal with it when it happens.”
There is no one solution to navigating through the grieving process and no set timeframe for moving beyond grief. Everyone has their own roadmap to inner peace, though I believe the techniques I have learned and share with clients can help facilitate the process.
As a life coach and grief recovery specialist, I can relate my first-hand knowledge and training to help clients complete their relationship to the pain isolation and loneliness caused by significant emotional loss. This will allow for the freedom to move on and enjoy life.
My personal grief experience was intense, but the outlook I bring to my practice is positive and upbeat.
My Journey
Growing up in a small Pennsylvania town, my life has included a tremendous amount of joy, but also several significant losses. My parents divorced when I was young, my beloved sister died in an auto accident when we were both in our thirties and my husband and soul mate Jeff died suddenly in 2014.
For close to 25 years, as spouses and business partners, our relationship revolved around friends, family, and a successful dental practice. With Jeff as the dentist and myself as business manager, which extended beyond our home and office and into the community. Patients became friends and our volunteer work with both local organizations and the troop-supporting Operation Gratitude was a shared passion.
A Turn in the Road
When Jeff died in 2014, I sank into a deep depression. A husband who had always been easy to love was hard to let go. I sold the practice we had built together, which was heart wrenching. I then spent a very long time feeling completely disconnected, lacking purpose and shutting myself off from social interactions that had been a big part of my life.
I knew I needed to move on with my life, but did not have the energy, clarity or motivation to think about the “next steps,” much less create a plan and put it into action.
As a naturally loving and upbeat person, I felt like a complete fraud, which only intensified my grief and frustration. Looking back, I can see I was emotionally and physically living on the ‘raw and ragged edge’ of life trying to pretend I was not.
Two years after Jeff’s death, I realized that grief was not going to just go away on its own, no matter how many counselors I spoke with or self-help books I read.
A New Leaf
At this point I knew I had to take responsibility for my own recovery and began to take steps toward it. I trained to become a life coach and, during the process, realized my calling was to focus on clients like me, struggling through unresolved grief.
While completing The Grief Recovery Method®, taught through The Grief Recovery Institute®, I began to really address the losses in my life, including my husband, sister and the unresolved sense of loss triggered by my parents’ divorce. The process was difficult, but, once I completed this challenging journey, I felt as though a weight had been lifted.
Today I am enjoying life again. I am living, engaged with family and friends andpursuing a passion for horseback riding. I also enjoy time on the beach, which offers the opportunity to reflect on my new path in life.
I have lived The Grief Recover Method® and will practice it with my own clients. When I begin to work with someone new, the most important message that I share is that grief is natural; people coping with grief are strong, and, most important,
“You may have a broken heart, but you are not broken.”
