Dee Dee - Diane-Diaz

As a grief educator, bereavement coach, speaker, writer and therapist, I help individuals heal their matters of their heart mind, body and soul as they mindfully recover through grief. It cannot be seen or measured, it has no defined expiration date. Often, grief is mistaken for bereavement. Bereavement is the external reaction to grief. Certainly both can go hand in hand. As a bilingual licensed mental health counselor/ licensed professional counselor in private practice, my specialty is helping individuals with mindful grieving through everyday living. Healing grief is a process that requires the discovery of inner wisdom. Mindful-grieving is the journey the heart and mind takes to achieve it. Self-compassion and gentle exploration, helps to remind us that grief is essential to reconcile the hurt and our reactions to loss. I am an eclectic person who incorporates and encourages healing through actions, movements, and activities. These active interventions facilitate the resolution of painful emotions. You can gain a sense of increased self-esteem, and it provides an opportunity for a deeper connection with your feelings. Deeper connections allow you to have a better understanding in how you experience the world. This also helps you to gain insight on how your world views influence your thoughts, behaviors and interactions. The grieving process serves you by helping to answer questions, deal with confusion, guilt, anger and sadness. Grief can certainly be felt for the death of a loved one but it can also be experienced with the loss of a lifestyle, a divorce, a job, a pet or in challenges faced within couples and marriages. I invite you to reach out to your friends, colleagues and loved ones when you witness them struggling in areas related to grief. When I can help, I would be honored to walk by your side through your journey in grief. I can also be reached for intensive workshops, blog writing and speaking events. Please visit my website for additional information and current rates. BIO

**Diane D. Rodriguez is a licensed mental health counselor/ licensed professional counselor. She has worked in various, hospital, hospice, school and agency settings. When she began the journey to become a clinical mental health counselor she worked with families of children diagnosed with cancer. She was a board member of a childhood cancer organization in which she created and chaired the Hispanic parent support group and chaired and ran the sibling support group. She has been an event speaker and educator for grief recovery, bone marrow recruitment drives, military family support, adoption groups, foster families, and several non-for profit charitable organizations. She has worked with young children, adolescents, families, couples, older adults, facilitating and co-facilitating adolescent groups in shelter care, and family support services within the military family culture. Diane has a heavy background in social psychology, clinical mental health, addictions, couples therapy, and specialty training in grief counseling. She is also a Prepare & Enrich Facilitator and Completed Level 1 Training in Gottman Methods Couples Therapy. Past and present professional memberships include:

*American Counseling Association
*Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling
*Association for Creativity in Counseling
*Association for Humanistic Counseling
*International Association for Marriage and Family
Counselors
*Phi Kappa Phi & Chi Sigma Iota Counseling
Academic & Professional Honor Society
*Florida Mental Health Counselor Association
*Space Coast Mental Health Counselor Association