My love of supporting others started from a young age. Until recently and through my own counselling journey, I was largely "a nice guy" who supported the needs of others, while sacrificing my own needs. I have since seen that I had a long way to go to encouraging openness and transparency with those who surround me, installing boundaries, checks and balances along the way. It serves as recognition that we all benefit from evolving self-reflection and re-adjustment throughout the life course.
The loss of my father in 2008 brought me into social work with my family exploring anticipatory grief supports before he died. Through this experience, I gained an immense appreciation for (when possible) pre-emptive, and more importantly, ongoing counselling supports throughout one's life. My favourite quality I have inherited from my father is an ability to be present for those who surround me.
I reside in Mississauga with my fiancé Lindsay and our dog Cooper. For me, there is nothing better than time with friends and family and a good DQ Blizzard year round.
With my core need to support others, volunteerism has always been the seed at seeing this belief system through. From a child, I have appreciated the dual exchange that volunteering can offer in developing stronger communities and individuals. Aligning with social work as a career path, I was fortunate to volunteer for charities arranging non-perishable hampers for families, hosting community events, conducting community education and facilitating peer-support groups.
Most of my clinical experience comes from working as a front-line social worker in hospice/palliative care. I have supported individuals experiencing a palliative illness, caregivers who supported loved one’s approaching an end-of-life journey and supported the grief journey of those experiencing the loss of a loved one.
Throughout the years, the concerns that my clients come to me with have evolved from grief and loss to include many aspects of re-organization and change which add to their daily stressors. I have grown to see that the secondary and tertiary aspects of any change process (death/loss or divorce) have the power to amplify the overall experience one faces. Sadly, there are more things out there to get us than to help us. The response that I, as a social worker, can have is to support the re-organization process for my clients by satisfying personalized ways by which to move forward.
I have had the privilege and honour in supporting many people as they encounter some of the most difficult times of their lives. As a delicate dance alongside my clients, I have created a vessel for exploration, safety, and openness for them to achieve goals created with them in mind. I pride myself on my non-judgemental approach and strive for excellence in my practice. Through this approach, clients can inwardly reflect and grow and evolve these goals to suit life’s challenges, surprises and successes. The greatest pride I feel in my work comes from upholding the trust and space a client offers and help clients fulfill outcomes to find increased joy in their lives.
If you ask any social worker/psychotherapist about their education and experience, they would summarize this as a labour of love, albeit a tumultuous journey at that. I graduated from a Masters of Social Work from University of Waterloo in 2019 and continue to expand my knowledge base. Ongoing education is one of my many passions.
Sean Gedney Counselling
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