Grief Psychotherapists in Ottawa

Grief is a normal response to a death rather than an illness. Counselling helps some people carry it.

The work covers the person who died, the circumstances, and what has changed since. For a smaller number, grief stays intense and daily life does not resume. Clinicians call that prolonged grief disorder, and they treat it differently ¹. If that sounds like you, ask a practitioner whether they treat prolonged grief disorder.

Grief does not run to a timetable. Ask a practitioner whether they work with bereavement. Say what kind of loss it was.

Everyone on this page describes their work as psychotherapy. A psychotherapist works through talking with you about your thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Psychotherapy usually runs longer than counselling and aims for clinical change. It works on patterns that repeat rather than on one current problem.

A psychotherapist trains in psychological treatment rather than in medicine. What that training covers, and which approach a practitioner uses, differ between practitioners. Ask which approach a psychotherapist trained in, and how long they usually work.

Titles you will see include Registered Psychotherapist and psychothérapeute. The protected title is Registered Psychotherapist.

In Canada there is no national register: each province and territory licenses under its own law.

See the Canada page.