Hello, my name is Carrie Becker, I have been a mental health professional for over 18 years. Throughout this time, I have supported hundreds of people with issues related to grief and loss, often times- they had no idea how to identify their grief nor did they understand how the grief they were carrying around with them impacted their daily lives and the lives of the people around them. I find this to be fascinating! When I investigated further, I unfortunately learned that most people have a hard time with identifying their grief and its impact.
My life has been full of grief and loss, just like all of us. Each of these losses has formed the unique person that I am today, and ultimately has led me to the Grief Recovery Institute ® to train as an Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist ®. A few of these losses were related to a death, but most of these losses were not as recognizable in our society as a loss due to the way we have been conditioned to understand grief and loss. For example, as a child, I was raised by a parent that suffered from a serious mental illness because of this and other factors associated, I lost most of my childhood and became parentified, I am sure this statement will make some people uncomfortable, however, these are the types of losses that I think are important for us to talk about. Another example is when I was a young adult, and I took my brothers children in after they were apprehended by the child welfare system. This situation created many losses within my life, including loss of identity, loss of family status and loss of career as I had to change my entire direction. Since then, I have been in contact with many other kin parents, who do not feel they are allowed to grieve these losses and feel guilty and judged when they mention them. The Grief Recovery Method ® has helped me work through these losses in a safe environment and has taught me the tools to move forward.
As an Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist ® I am passionate about grief education and helping people identify and unpack all the grief they have been carrying around with them without even realizing it. I strive to open communication about all forms of grief, not just grief related to death. It is also very important to me not just to talk about grief, but to give people tools they can use to work through grief throughout their lives, I believe the Grief Recovery Method ® is perfect for this and I am honoured to be able to share this gift with others on their grief journey.
I am located in North Bay, Ontario, Canada- however, as an Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist, I offer online one-on-one sessions and group sessions.