Roger Allen

If you are looking at this webpage, you are likely experiencing difficulty dealing with a loss, or perhaps a whole series of losses. The fact that you are seeking some help for how to deal with this is your first right step in a series of choices that will enable you to experience healing and recovery, so good for you! Five years ago, I encountered losses on a scale that I'd never experienced before and that prompted me to seek help. In 2017, I lost my mother unexpectedly to terminal cancer while simultaneously making a cross country move and starting a new job. It was a very intense and difficult time. Some days I felt like I was just numb and running on adrenaline to get through. I tried to be strong for my family and put on my best game face for my new job. I really wanted to succeed and embrace this new challenge, but some days it was all I could do to "act" my way through the day. Inside I was crumbling under the weight of the grief. Luckily, a new friend who realized I was struggling, recommended that I attend a local Grief Recovery Method Support Group. I had no idea what to expect, but went anyway. I was ready to find any help I could get. I greatly valued the experience I had with that Grief Recovery Method Group, the people I met and the new tools I acquired that helped me understand the nature of loss and grief and find ways to deal with it. It was so helpful and life changing! I began to feel like I would be able to live through that challenging time and emerge on the other side. AND I DID! I remember thinking, even when I was going through the program, that someday I would like to get trained to become a specialist so I could help others deal with their losses too. Fast forward to 2020. The pandemic hit and it seemed like the whole world was plunged into grieving all kinds of losses as a result of COVID. I saw people around me whose pain was almost consuming them and I wanted to help. I realized that it was time to get trained as a GRM specialist. I'm so glad I did! For the first 10 years of my career I was public school teacher. After sensing a call to full-time local church ministry, I have served as a full-time associate pastor in local churches for over 20 years. I have always been drawn to professions where I can work with people and I have a strong desire to help them in any way that I can. I have found a deep connection between my faith and the things I have learned through the Grief Recovery Method. In many ways, becoming a Grief Recovery Method Specialist has become an extension of my life's calling to bring healing and help to others. Currently, I am offering fall and spring in person 8 Week Grief Recovery Method Groups at the West Valley Church of the Nazarene in Yakima, Washington. I am also willing to do the one on one Grief Recovery Method program as schedules permit.