Alison Lynch Richard, RSW - Support for Grief & Caregivers

06/16/2026

How do you navigate the shift from “we” to “I”?

​When you lose an important person, it can trigger a profound identity shift full of practical, daily friction.

Rebuilding who you are after loss is a slow, trial-and-error process—give yourself massive grace today!

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06/12/2026

A little Friday humour with a lot of truth behind it!

​One of the benefits of working with a counselor who is also a Registered Social Worker (RSW) is that we don’t just look at what’s happening inside the therapy room. We look at the whole picture.

​Sometimes, the heaviest weight you’re carrying isn't just the emotional stuff—it’s the absolute exhaustion of trying to navigate complex, bureaucratic "systems" all by yourself.

​Whether it's hunting down a niche community resource, figuring out specialized care pathways, or breaking through red tape, please know you don't have to carry that logistical load alone. I’m entirely in your corner for the clinical work and the systemic hurdles. 🤍

06/11/2026

"You’re young, you’ll find someone else." 💔 Why do we say such unhelpful things in grief?
​Honestly? Even as a grief counsellor, I’ve said the wrong thing too. We panic and try to "fix" pain. But it’s never too late to apologize and try again.

​H is for Holding Space. It means no scripts and no platitudes. Just showing up and letting the heavy be heavy.

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06/09/2026

"What if I had done more?" 💭

​Guilt is a sticky, heavy emotion, but it’s rarely a reflection of reality. In this week’s Grief A to Z, we’re unpacking why our brains lean into guilt after a loss and how we can learn to hold those feelings a little more loosely.

​If this message resonates, hit the save button so you can revisit it the next time those thoughts start to feel loud.​

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06/05/2026

Comedian Jimmy Carr offers some profound perspectives on grief, but his ​advice to a grieving daughter has a massive blind spot. 💔

​When a parent drops a bomb like this, the adult child isn't just a bystander. They are grieving a rewritten past while being expected to hold space for everyone else.

​Adult children have a right to their own grief, too.

​What do you think of this clip? Let me know below. 👇

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06/04/2026

Grief A to Z: F is for Firsts 🗓️💔

Newly bereaved? The anxiety of anticipating a milestone day (like a first birthday or anniversary) is often worse than the day itself.

My advice: Make a plan, but hold it loosely. Give yourself permission to pivot to whatever brings you peace in the moment.

✨ Please share this with someone navigating loss today, and follow along for more of the alphabet of grief.

06/02/2026

Have you ever found yourself crying over a loss months later and immediately thought, “I should be over this by now”?

Or maybe you felt a brief flash of joy and instantly judged yourself for it?

If so, you are carrying the heavy, invisible weight of expectations in grief.

In my practice, I frequently encounter people who are inadvertently amplifying their natural sorrow by layering rigid timelines and internal judgment on top of it. To help unpack this, I often look to an elegant formula popularized by mindfulness teacher Shinzen Young: Suffering = Pain x Resistance.

The pain is the natural and unavoidable sorrow of your loss.

But the resistance? It's based in the grief expectations we've internalized.

It’s the pressure to "bounce back" and the internal criticism we throw at ourselves when we don't meet an arbitrary timeline.

When we fight what we are feeling, we inadvertently multiply our own suffering.

As family systems therapist Clayton Barbeau famously coined (and psychologist Albert Ellis later popularized), we have to stop "shoulding" all over ourselves in grief.

Healing doesn't happen on a clean, linear schedule. There are no set stages, and there is no perfect order.

Real movement begins when we drop the resistance, stop white-knuckling the calendar, and allow the pain to be what it is today.

Ready to find some space to breathe?
📍 In-Person (Fredericton Area): My office door in Hanwell is open for local, face-to-face support.
💻 Virtually (NB-Wide): I provide secure, convenient virtual counseling to individuals balancing demanding lives anywhere in New Brunswick.

Link to book is in the first comment below!

05/29/2026

Providing caregivers the support they deserve takes a village—we can't do it in silos! Wrapping a true safety net around families requires a community effort, with each practitioner bringing a unique set of skills, perspectives, and expertise to the table. It is so rewarding to get to know the other dedicated folks walking this path in our community.

So grateful for a wonderful coffee chat and connection with Karen Lake, Caregiving Consultant and Care Navigator this week! ☕️✨

Yes, going to a coffee shop is "work"!

Especially when you get to have meaningful conversations with other practitioners in the community who support Family Caregivers.

People like Alison Lynch Richard, RSW - Support for Grief & Caregivers from Mind Body and Soul Wellness, here in Fredericton.
On Wednesday, I met the newly appointed Director of Care & Operations, Chelsie Ogden at Farraline Home to discuss their Independent Living and Respite options (check the comments for their recent post).
On Monday, I joined many other concerned citizens and community providers attending the NB Advocate - Défenseur du N.-B. public forum on the human rights of older adults.

It feels good to be connected to my community.
Everything I learn, every person I meet, every organization I become aware of makes me a better Navigator.
All of that helps the people that I support.
Community, Connection and Care are SO valuable.

05/29/2026

We don’t leave our hearts at the door as we go about our day-to-day lives.

Right now, someone in your circle—a friend, a neighbor, a family member—might be quietly struggling to focus, feeling completely exhausted, or just going through the motions. To the outside world, it might look like they're just distant or having an off week.

But sometimes, it’s a very specific, hidden kind of pain: disenfranchised grief.

This is the grief that happens when you experience a massive, heartbreaking loss, but it doesn't fit into a neat societal box. Because there’s no traditional funeral, public ritual, or formal space for it, we feel like we have to hide it.

We often carry it silently when we navigate an estrangement, lose a beloved pet, watch a close friendship or partnership dissolve, or mourn a planned future that is no longer possible.

If a loss mattered to your heart, then it matters! You don’t need anyone else's permission or public validation to your pain.

I created the permission slip below for anyone navigating an invisible weight today. Please feel free to save it, or share it for anyone in your network who might need to see it this morning.

05/27/2026

Have you ever carried a heavy loss silently, feeling like you had to keep it close to your chest because society wouldn’t quite understand?

​In clinical spaces, we call this disenfranchised grief—and it's the focus of today's video for the letter D. Whether it’s the loss of a pet, a past relationship, a major life transition, or a dream that didn't come to pass—if a loss mattered to your heart, your grief is real. You don’t need a permission slip from the world to mourn what you lost, and your tears are earned.

​Let's drop the societal rules and hold space for all kinds of losses.

​If this resonated with you today, just leave a 🤍 in the comments so I know you’re here. And follow along as we continue to walk through the alphabet of grief together.