Rooted in Love. Growing Through Loss
🌿Welcome
Welcome, I’m Susan MacDonald, founder of Twin Pines Grief Healing.
The hardest thing in life is dealing with loss.
Grief shows up in many ways and stages.
At Twin Pines Grief Healing, I offer a compassionate and supportive space where grief is honored, stories are heard, and healing can gently begin.
Twin Pines Grief Healing exists to support those navigating profound loss, honoring the enduring bonds of love that continue beyond death. Here, grief is witnessed, healing is nurtured, and no one has to walk alone.
Twin Pines Grief Healing
💚 My Story Why I'm Here
My life changed in an instant in May 2023.
My daughter, Carissa MacDonald, and her fiancé, Aaron Stone, were taken in a sudden and senseless act of violence in the Stoney Creek/Hamilton landlord-tenant shooting. I was on the phone as it happened. I heard the chaos, the fear, the unimaginable moment when everything shifted. No parent, no family member, should ever experience something like that — and yet, it became part of my story.
Carissa was 27. Aaron was 28. They were just days away from their birthdays. They were also just beginning a new chapter of their lives together. They were to be married two months later, in August 2023. Their home was packed. In four days, they were moving into their new home, moving forward into a future they were so excited to build. There was so much love, so much hope, and so much life ahead of them.
And then, in an instant, everything was gone.
Grief like this doesn’t have a clear path. It is disorienting, overwhelming, and deeply personal. It changes how you see the world, how you experience time, and how you understand meaning. I found myself not only grieving their loss, but also the future that was taken with them.
Six months later, I lost Winston — our beloved Golden Retriever. He was more than a pet; he was family, a best friend and my steady companion, especially through the grief. Carissa had grown up with him, and their bond was deep and enduring. Losing him felt like losing another piece of her, another piece of our family.
One week after that, my father passed away after his battle with cancer. Throughout the loss of Carissa and Aaron, I experienced the anticipatory loss of my beloved Dad.
Within a short span of time, I experienced the loss of my daughter, my son-in-law, my closest companion, and my father. Grief was no longer a single event - it became a landscape I had to learn to live within. And yet, within that landscape, I began searching for something more than survival.
I created Twin Pines Grief Healing in honour of Carissa and Aaron - in honour of their love, their lives, and the love we continue to carry for them. My journey through grief has not been about “moving on,” but about finding meaning, connection, and a way to carry them forward with me.
I am here because of them. I am here because I know what it is to face profound loss and to keep going. I am here because I believe that even in the deepest grief, there is space for healing — not in forgetting, but in remembering with purpose. I am here to honour love that does not end, even when life does.
This work is part of that meaning. It is how I continue my relationship with them. It is how I carry their legacy forward. And it is how I walk alongside others who are finding their way through loss, one step at a time.
In Loving Memory🌲🌲
Twin Pines Grief Healing was created in memory of two lives forever intertwined, forever loved.
Carissa MacDonald & Aaron Stone
Their love continues to grow here.
🌿About Susan MacDonald
My path to this work is deeply personal. I have experienced profound loss as a mother, as a daughter of both parents, through supporting grieving children and loved ones. I have lived through traumatic grief, complicated grief, cumulative loss, death by murder, pet loss, relationship loss and the many forms grief can take.
These experiences, alongside my professional training, allow me to meet others in their grief with empathy, authenticity, and care.
This is not just my work—it is something I carry with me every day.
I am a Certified Grief Educator offering compassionate support to those navigating loss. My understanding of somatic healing and grief yoga has been deeply influenced through participation in programs and teachings by Paul Denniston, founder of Grief Yoga.
My work is deeply personal, shaped by my own experience with profound loss, and guided by a belief that grief deserves to be witnessed, honored, and supported in a caring and understanding space.
I offer both traditional and holistic approaches to healing, allowing each session to be guided by what feels most comfortable and supportive for you.
I am a member of the "Grief Educator Alumni Circle", continuing my education, insight and support from David Kessler in a community helping others in Grief.
Grief Educator Description from David Kessler:
"A Certified Grief Educator is committed to providing the highest level of grief support through education, experience, and insights into the often unacknowledged rocky terrain of grief.
Certified Grief Educators completed a certificate program designed by world-renowned grief expert, David Kessler. They bring his unique methodology, tools, and decades of experience to help people navigate the challenges of grief."
🌲Grief Support Services
Grief touches every part of our lives—emotionally, physically, and spiritually. My approach honors the whole person and meets you where you are.
One-on-One Grief Support
Individual sessions provide a safe and compassionate space to share your story and process your grief at your own pace.
Sessions available:
• In person
• By phone
• Virtual
Additional supportive approaches are available if they feel right for you:
• Nature-Based Healing
Nature can offer gentle support in the healing process. Sessions may take place in peaceful outdoor settings or meaningful personal locations where reflection and connection feel grounding and natural.
• Somatic Therapy
Somatic practices support healing by reconnecting the mind and body. Through gentle movement, breath awareness, and body-based exploration, individuals can release tension and reconnect with themselves in a compassionate way.
• Grief Yoga
Grief Yoga is a compassionate practice that helps transform pain, grief, and loss into peace and purpose through movement, breath, and sound. It offers a safe and supported way to release emotions held within the body.
• Group Support
Group sessions provide a supportive environment where individuals can connect with others who understand the experience of loss. Sharing in community can help ease feelings of isolation and create meaningful connection.
Each session is guided by what feels most comfortable and supportive for you.
🌲Grief Takes Many Forms
Grief is not only experienced when someone dies. We experience grief through many forms of loss—some visible, and some that are often unseen or unspoken.
• Loss of a loved one
• Relationship loss or separation
• Divorce
• Pregnancy and infant loss
• Estrangement
• Pet loss
• Health changes or diagnosis
• Life transitions
• Betrayal
• Trauma
• Secondary Loss
Whatever your loss may be, your grief is valid and deserving of support.
🌿Confidentiality & Support
Your privacy and personal experiences are treated with compassion, care, and respect. Conversations shared within grief support sessions are held confidentially within professional and ethical guidelines.
Twin Pines Grief Healing offers grief education and supportive care and is not a replacement for medical, psychiatric, or emergency mental health services. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or require immediate support, please contact emergency services or a licensed healthcare provider.
Contact
Susan MacDonald
Certified Grief Educator
📞 705-787-5945
✉️ susanmacdonald001@gmail.com
Elisabeth Kubler -Ross, the Swiss-American psychiatrist and author of On Death and Dying, in which she first discussed her theory on the five stages of grief said, " The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep-loving concern".
I invite you to reach out when you feel ready.