Brandon Robbins, Counsellor

01/26/2026

The best way to support a person grieving is just show up and do. The worse thing a person can ask “let me know if you need anything” - just act. See the dishes in the sink - do them. See the trash piled up near the door - take it out. Afraid they aren’t eating - cook and eat with them. Being there supporting them quietly while they process their loss.

01/23/2026

Displacement in the Foster System: Grief Without a Single Death
Displacement in the foster system is not one loss—it is layered, recurring, and cumulative. For children, it often begins suddenly, without explanation, consent, or ritual. What is “taken” is not only caregivers, but place, continuity, identity, and narrative coherence.
Unlike bereavement, foster-related loss:
has no funeral
has no shared language
is often framed as necessary or protective, which can silence grief
repeats itself through multiple placements, compounding saturation loss
Children do not lose once—they lose again and again, often while being expected to “adjust.”

01/23/2026

Dismissal as an Identity Death

Dismissal does not just remove a position—it withdraws a mirror that once reflected competence, belonging, or usefulness.
For many individuals:
Work = worth
Role = identity
Belonging = safety
When dismissed, the internal narrative may collapse:
“If I am no longer this, what am I?”
This is where dismissal begins to resemble Dissolution, particularly when meaning systems fail simultaneously.

01/23/2026

01/23/2026

Exploring Loss that comes with a Diagnosis.

A life-threatening or life-changing diagnosis is not a single loss. It is a cascade of losses that unfold over time—some immediate, some delayed, some invisible to everyone but the person carrying the body that has changed.Below is an exploration of that grief, its emotions, and its impact.The Fir...

01/23/2026

Exploring the 6 Needs of Mourning as it applies to Dependancy and Addiction.

Grieving the loss of autonomy, identity, and relationshipDependency in addiction creates multiple, overlapping losses: • The loss of self-governance for the person using • The loss of mutuality for those who care • The loss of predictability, safety, and future orientation for systems Because ...

01/22/2026

Re-Forming Identity After Loss (Not “Moving On”)

Healing does not mean returning to a previous self.

That self no longer exists.

Instead, grief work involves:
• Acknowledging What Died With the Loss
Not just who or what was lost—but the version of self that depended on it.

• Allowing the Identity Void
Resisting premature reinvention.
Purpose cannot be forced without becoming hollow.

• Reclaiming Agency in Small,
Meaningful Acts

The purpose begins microscopically:
Caring for something living
Speaking truth about loss
Creating structure where chaos lived

• Integrating Loss into Identity (Not Erasing It) The loss becomes part of the self’s architecture, not an enemy to defeat.

“I am someone who carries this.”
That sentence marks the beginning of meaning reconstruction.

01/22/2026

Grief as the Disruption of the Self

Identity is not static. It is constructed through:
Roles we occupy

Relationships that reflect us back to ourselves
Stories we tell about our past and future
Values enacted through daily purpose
Loss interrupts these scaffolds.
When someone or something central disappears, the question quietly emerges:

“Who am I now, without this?”
Grief lives in that question.

01/17/2026

Exploring Loss and Change. Making it easier to process and digest

01/14/2026

01/14/2026