Former grief and trauma counselor Kristin Darcy started her grief recovery business, Choose Connections Grief Recovery Coaching, last year and has since built a client base around Pittsburgh through both virtual and in-person sessions. She uses the Grief Recovery Method, an international grief recovery program that she advocates for personally.
Darcy promotes a nuanced and validating approach to grief. From personal experience, she understands that complex emotions often follow tragedy.
“I always knew the benefits of counseling,” Darcy said. “But I didn’t really understand that you can experience grief over so many things. For me … nobody that I loved had died, but I was still grieving a loss of safety, a loss of trust and a loss of support.”
After earning a master’s degree in social work, Darcy worked as a counselor for more than a decade before taking time off to care for her family. During this time, her son experienced a trauma that Darcy later realized was also causing her grief. She turned to the Grief Recovery Method, a step-by-step program that helped her acknowledge and heal from her family’s past.
“It made such a difference in my life that I got certified,” Darcy said.
The experience inspired her to help change the narrative around loss and encourage others to recognize that grief is often more complex than many people assume. Darcy now uses the Grief Recovery Method with her clients and advocates for the program’s structured approach.
“It really validates the other kinds of losses that people can experience,” Darcy said. “I think that there is a need for that in our community.”
The Grief Recovery Method is an international organization that describes itself as “the only evidence-based grief recovery program in the world.” Its website offers opportunities to receive treatment or become certified in the method to help others. Darcy completed this certification following her positive experience as a client.
“This program is different because it’s a specific, step-by-step plan that we take people through,” Darcy said. “It’s an action plan for healing from emotional loss.”
Her business, designed to promote emotional healing and support, is not traditional therapy. Though she worked as a grief counselor for many years, Darcy explains that her recovery coaching follows a structured program rather than a general psychological service. Her website specifically invites people who have felt unsatisfied with typical therapy or counseling services to explore her approach.
Darcy offers a 20-minute free session for first-time clients on her website, along with four different programs with varying durations and purposes. These include one-on-one support, group sessions, a pet-loss support program and an option designed to help adults learn how to best support their children.
“Your experience is your experience,” Darcy said. “If you’ve had a significant emotional loss … you are owed the same kind of support and validation regardless of whatever loss has occurred.”
For more information on Choose Connections Grief Recovery Coaching, contact Kristin Darcy at info@chooseconnectionscoaching.com or 410-409-3116. To book a session, visit chooseconnectionscoaching.com.
“Everybody deserves to feel joyful,” Darcy said. “Everyone deserves to not have to live with pain that keeps you stuck … and that’s what this program is designed to help you do. It’s not moving on from your grief — it’s helping you find true happiness again in life.”
