HELLO, I’M TRACI LENZI

What intrigues me about loss is the way a door abruptly slams shut and before you know it, other doors - ones you’d never seen or stepped through before - open right up. Loss changes your life, changes the way you define yourself, and makes you grapple with your biggest emotional and spiritual questions. In the midst of all that, there is an opportunity to create a life you never imagined.

I'm fascinated by the complexity of grief. Everyone has different ways of experiencing it and coping with it. In some cases, a loss or transition will disrupt the complex and finely tuned balance in your life and in your family, so everything has to be reorganized. Loss also exposes everything that matters to you; if you know loss, you know love, survival, family, resilience, and strength. Connecting with these things are an important part of rebuilding.

Grief can be an intensely emotional and lonely experience. I know that when people are in the throes of overwhelming grief, sharing the pain is the single most important thing that can make even the tiniest difference. This is why I wanted to be a grief therapist - to create a space for you to find out who you are going to be in this new phase of life.

We must feel grief in order for it to change us - because when we focus on grief, we focus on life.

Hi, I’M Kathy Knieriem

My specialty is supporting those experiencing grief and Loss, infant loss and miscarriage, caregiver burnout and concerns, major life transitions, issues around aging, terminal illness and end of life issues. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stuck, hopeless, depressed, anxious and unsure of what to do next, you have come to the right place. As a clinician who has specialized in these areas for almost 15 years, I have the skills and experience to provide support and help you develop tools and strategies to move toward a life that feels more stable and manageable- one in which you start to feel like yourself again.

I believe that we have the potential to heal from painful and challenging circumstances, and become our best selves with support and guidance. My approach is holistic- exploring and addressing emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. I believe that you already have the knowledge and answers inside you. Together, we will help you find them.

It would be an honor for me to work with you. With you as the expert on your own life and uniquely yourself, paired with my background in navigating the challenges that grief/loss and major life transitions bring, I am confident that we can arrive at a place where you feel more content, leading a life that feels more more meaningful, manageable and joyful.

Lessons in Loss

When dealing with loss and change, balance can feel like this illusory place, always outside your grasp. At one time, I thought I would find the perfect pace, schedule, and plan for my life, and things would just stay there. I also thought that arriving at a place of optimum mental health meant being joyful every day. And the fact that I was not yet there meant that I was doing something wrong or there was something wrong with me. I was afraid that allowing emotions would throw off the delicate balance I’d been so committed to obtaining. So I determined I needed to work harder. My response was to over-function and under-feel.

As I worked harder to get to this place of utopia, I not only didn’t get there, but I got sick and felt strain in nearly all areas of my life. Bypassing the grief and pain was not the answer.

Over time, I discovered that confronting a loss need not result in despair that strips away all purpose in life. On the contrary, loss provides you with a unique opportunity to find out more about yourself. It can be an awakening experience to a fuller life, and can teach you how to become wiser and more spiritually connected.

As your therapist, I aim to help you navigate this painful path and guide you towards a new level of growth, strength, understanding.

LET’S WORK TOGETHER

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