About
Meet Alicia Patterson —
Alicia Patterson is a Certified Kessler Grief Educator, Certified Grief Coach, and an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist. She has a decade of experience as the lead professor of Jesus and Contemporary Society and Issues in Grieving and Loss at AdventHealth University where she developed a course in grief and loss that became a requirement for the nursing students. She recently stepped down from that position to start Confluence Grief and Loss Coaching, a coaching and consulting business.
Her personal experience with grief began with the car accident that killed her mother when Alicia was four years old. This loss made her more sensitive to those grieving, and from this experience grew a desire to support others in their grief. She has a heart for walking with grieving people to a place of healing where the weight of grief lightens, and they can breathe again.
Alicia offers individual and group grief coaching as well as seminars, speaking, and grief consulting for businesses. She and her husband, Pastor Geoff Patterson, live in Boulder, Colorado, and are blessed to have four children and a growing family: Gable, their eldest, Nathan and his wife, Karen; Aaron and his wife, Marisa, and Ariel who is at Campion Academy. Alicia is delighted to have two granddaughters from Nathan and Karen, Florence, who is 2 years old and 3-week-old Marvel!
My work with you will be informed by education, training, and experience:
Taught aspiring healthcare professionals about grief and loss for ten years as a university professor.
Developed a course on Issues in Grieving and Loss required for nursing students.
Communicated with over 1,000 students on their personal grief experiences.
Became a Certified Grief Educator by studying with the grief expert, David Kessler, which expanded my understanding of grief coaching.
Became an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist in the evidence-based Grief Recovery Method which gave me some powerful tools.
And maybe most importantly, my personal experience with grief has given me a sensitivity to and concern for those grieving and started me on my own painful, but worthwhile, healing journey.
Why Confluence?
A “confluence” is where 2 or more things merge or the act of merging. In nature, where 2-3 separate rivers merge into one stronger river, that is a confluence.
In humans, grief often causes divergence, the opposite of confluence. Because we don’t want to face the pain of loss, we try to avoid it, submerge it, or medicate it—anything to get away from it. This causes division within ourselves. We become disconnected from parts of ourselves and from other people. In trying to block pain, we find we are unable to feel any emotions fully, whether good or bad.) We can lose our focus, our power, and our way.
Healing is a place of confluence, where the disconnected parts of ourselves converge. Reconciling loss with present reality helps us become integrated and whole again. Facing our pain head-on makes us stronger and less fearful. Expressing emotions honestly frees up space in our hearts and minds.
Integrated people are able to access all of who they are. Their relationships are healthier. Their mind is calmer. They can be present in the moment because they are not weighed down by unaddressed pain from the past.
Healing confluence results in creative flow and new growth. We regain purpose and joy and bring something into the world that is needed.
To grieve is human.
Are you struggling to navigate life after the loss of a loved one? Are you feeling overwhelmed, isolated, or unsure of how to cope with your grief? If this sounds like you, you're not alone. Grief is a natural response to loss, but it can be a difficult and painful journey to navigate on your own.
Investing in your mental health with grief coaching can be a transformative experience.