Hi, I'm Danielle Southwick

I was first introduced to the Grief Recovery Method ® in 2014 when I had the overwhelming realization that my losses were weighing me down and limiting me from reaching my fullest potential. As a perfectionist, I didn’t call this grief at the time. I called it “exhaustion,” expressed that I was “overwhelmed,” and accepted that I was “burnt out” at the age of 28. I was skeptical that the Grief Recovery Method ® would work for me because I was “too far gone” having been diagnosed with complex PTSD three years prior.

During my childhood I experienced loss of trust, loss of safety, physical/verbal, and sexual abuse, being held hostage, witness to a public suicide and fought an illness that threatened to take my eyesight permanently--all before the age of 18.

I was taught to “be strong” for others and compare my loss because what I had survived “wasn’t as bad as” someone else's pain. So, I remained “strong” and pushed down each loss, not allowing myself to feel.

I remember my Grief Recovery Specialist kindly guiding me through the misinformation that I was “too far gone” and asked if I would be willing to trust this new heart process. About three days after graduation I recall waking up and being aware that I was no longer carrying around the heavy emotional burden of hatred. I gave voice to my emotions and I felt physically lighter. I was hooked. I wanted to apply the tools I learned in that group class to more relationships as soon as I could.

Five years later, there’s no going back for me. I’ve completed 33 unique relationships and continue to do the work in my own life simply because: The work works! I’m unable to fully express the amount of gratitude I feel for my first instructor and for their patience with my broken heart. To them I say, thank you for giving me hope and teaching me how to apply the Grief Recovery Method ® training!

In 2019, I decided that I couldn’t keep these tools to myself any longer and made the choice to become a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist® (and, now Advanced). I’m so glad that I did because now I have the opportunity to pay it forward and share that same heart tools with those in my community. If you decide to trust the Grief Recovery Method ® process, you too can carry less grief and have more emotional freedom. You are not “too far gone.”