Utilizing my education as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, my 17 years in hospice, and my personal experience has proven to be most effective in providing my clients with empathy and compassion, a deeper understanding of dealing with loss, grief, mourning, bereavement, and much-needed emotional support – all of which can result in a great sense of hope and healing. Seeing lives change is the greatest and most satisfying aspect of what I do.

My personal journey with grief started my freshman year in college when my boyfriend was killed in an automobile accident. I regretted that I never had the chance to say goodbye. Ironically, I was taking my first Death and Dying class at the time. This provided a certain level of help but there was not a great deal of grief support on our college campus in the 1980s.  His death made me realize how unprepared I was to cope with my grief and the pain of loss.  All my hopes, dreams, and expectations were gone! Loss is inevitable, it's the most basic human experience, but suffering is a choice. When grievers don't know what choices they can make, that's when they are stuck with the pain.  

My next significant loss was that of my 42-year-old sister, who was diagnosed with an exceedingly rare cancer. This experience, taught me a lot about helping my sister prepare for her end-of-life journey. We had hospice involved which was a great resource in helping me cope with my anticipatory grief and received bereavement support.  From this experience, I started my hospice career. 

Not long after my sister died, in 2008 my beloved cat Gracie of fourteen years unexpectedly died. My heart was broken.  It was difficult to find support groups for pet loss.  So, I joined a chat room with others who had lost a pet for several months to find support and process my grief.  Now with the help of the Grief Recovery Pet Loss program, I was able to grieve Gracie's loss in an appropriate way.

A subsequent devastating loss was that of my mother, who passed suddenly at the age of 79. I was aware this could happen due to her health condition, but it was traumatic for me in the manner that she died.   My mother was my anchor.  I now felt like an “orphaned adult” since both my parents had passed.  I had to put my grief on hold until I could process it appropriately through the tools I had learned from my training.

While the deaths of those I loved caused me to grieve, I have also felt and endured other losses over the years. Shortly after my mother died, my daughter moved several states away for work. This too was a loss, we now were "empty nesters".  My husband’s family business of 30 years closed which was financially another loss, and lastly, my three beloved Bichon Frise' died unexpectedly in one month during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Grief  Recovery Method has helped me immensely to process my losses in a healthy way using the tools I have learned.  

It is my hope that you will allow me the opportunity to teach you how to accept that loss is not a process leading to closure, but one of integration from loss. I look forward to walking with you through this journey of grief/loss.  I am here as a guide to help you navigate and teach you how to process your loss with supportive guidance every step of the way.

I am located in Fishers, IN serving: Indianapolis, Noblesville, Westfield, Carmel, Zionsville, Fortville, Ingalls, McCordsville, Lawrence, Elwood, and Anderson, Indiana.