Dani Sablinskas
In person Downtown Vancouver
Online across British Columbia
Covered by most extended health plans
IF YOU’RE READING THIS
Grief is heavier than people really understand
The world expects you to be okay by now. Or it never quite acknowledged how much you lost in the first place. Either way, you're left holding something enormous, often alone. If any of the following feels familiar, you're in the right place.
You lost someone you love, a parent, a partner, a child, a sibling, a friend, or a beloved pet, and the world feels like it's still spinning while yours has stopped.
You're carrying a grief no one talks about, a miscarriage, a death by suicide, an estrangement, a complicated relationship that ended before you could resolve it.
The waves come without warning. You can be fine, and then a song, a smell, an empty chair pulls you under.
You're sleeping too much, or not at all. You're crying constantly, or wondering why you can't cry. Both are normal. Both are exhausting.
You feel angry, and you don't know what to do with it. At the person you lost. At the people who are still here. At yourself.
You're worried something is wrong with you because it's been months, or years, and you still feel this much.
You don’t have to carry this alone.
Grief is not a problem to be solved. It's a relationship to be tended. Therapy is not about getting over the person you lost or rushing back to who you were before. It's about making space for what you're carrying, learning to live alongside it, and slowly rebuilding a life that has room for both the loss and the love.
In our work together, you won't be pathologized. You won't be told to move on. You'll be met with patience, presence, and the kind of careful listening that grief actually asks for.
What grief therapy with me really looks like
Every grief is different, and so every therapy looks different. But here's what you can expect when we begin working together.
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We start where you are
Whether your loss was last month or ten years ago, whether you've talked about it a hundred times or never said it out loud, we begin with the grief as it is right now. No pressure to perform, no script to follow.
We honour the relationship and the loss
Grief is the other side of love. Together, we make space to talk about who or what you lost, what they meant to you, the parts that were complicated, and the parts you're afraid to say. All of it matters.
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We work with the body, not just the mind
My background in Neuroscience and Recreational Therapy means I understand grief as something that lives in the body, not just the mind. We work with the physical, emotional, and cognitive layers of what you're carrying, so the healing reaches all of you.
We build a life that holds both
Healing from grief isn't about leaving the person behind. It's about finding a way forward that includes them. Together, we work toward a life that has room for joy again — without asking you to give up the love that's still there.
The mornings get easier than they are right now.
Right now, mornings might be the hardest part. Waking up, remembering, and having to carry it all over again. This is one of the loneliest parts of grief, and one of the things therapy starts to soften first.
You won't wake up one day suddenly fine. But over time, the mornings begin to shift. You start to find small moments where the weight loosens. You laugh at something and don't feel guilty for it. You catch yourself making plans again. You talk about the person you lost and the memory feels warm instead of unbearable.
The grief doesn't disappear. It changes shape. And slowly, you start to recognize yourself again.
A life that has room for joy again, while carrying them with you.
The waves get gentler
The grief still visits, sometimes unexpectedly. But it no longer knocks you flat. You have tools, language, and a deeper understanding of what's happening when it arrives. You can ride the wave instead of drowning in it.
You feel like yourself again
Not the same self you were before, that person is gone. But a version of you that has grown, that has loved deeply, that has survived something hard. You start to recognize and even appreciate who you've become.
You carry them forward
The relationship doesn't end with the loss. You find new ways to stay connected, to honour them, to bring them with you into the life you're building. The love stays. The pain quiets.
When you’re ready, I’m here.
A little bit about me
I'm Dani Sablinskas, a Canadian Certified Counsellor working Downtown Vancouver. I came to this work through my own experiences with unrelenting grief, which is why I know how hard and uncomfortable reaching out for help can be. My goal is to help you move through the discomfort of grief and slowly rebuild a life you're proud of.
My background in both Neuroscience and Recreational Therapy gives me a holistic understanding of how the mind and body are connected, and the importance of taking into account all the different facets of your life when we're working through something this big.
I work with adults across British Columbia, both in person at my downtown Vancouver office and online. If you're ready to talk, I'd love to hear from you.