Megan Heil

Hi, I’m so glad you’re here. Let me tell you a bit about myself and my journey with grief. I have been a hairdresser for almost 20 years, and I also worked in an independent living retirement home as a recreation assistant. I left that position to focus more on bringing grief support to individuals and retirement communities. In June of 2011, my father was diagnosed with cancer. It was a very rare form of lung cancer that could not be treated with chemo or radiation. He declined very quickly and passed away in November of that year. It was the most devastating thing that has ever happened to me and I had no idea how to handle it. My maternal grandmother also passed away in 2011 when she contracted C. difficile during a stay in hospital. Over the next few years, I experienced the death of my last remaining Grandparents, and my Uncle, who died by suicide. It was very hard to lose my Uncle, he was my fathers only brother, and he felt like the closest physical link to my father. I continued living my life surrounded by all the myths and misinformation about grief, thinking that the pain from grief was just something you lived with. In 2017, I started having severe panic attacks and was diagnosed with Anxiety. My life completely changed, I had to take time off work, stop doing things that I enjoyed and start 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. 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” for the first time, 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. With this new knowledge, I saw grief everywhere, especially at 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. More recently I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life so far. My dog Max was aging and his body failing him. He deserved a peaceful pain free passing, so the decision was made that he would be euthanized in the comfort of our own home. Our family misses him every day, and I am so glad I had the tools and education from the Grief Recovery Method to help us move through our grief. Aside from the Grief Recovery Method programs, I offer workshops, presentations, and webinars for individuals, companies, organizations, and retirement homes who are looking to support their staff, residents, and families. Please see my website for more information. www.meganheil.ca