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Meet Denise
Hi, I’m Denise Turner—the heart behind Lighthouse Grief Coaching.
After more than 35 years in the corporate world, I’ve stepped into my true calling: to walk alongside others on their grief journey so they can discover meaning, healing, and even moments of joy again.
Meet My Dad, Antoine
His death was the moment that forever changed me. I often describe it as a change in my DNA—it hit me hard, right in the center of my chest. For months, I lived in a fog, telling myself I was “fine,” but in truth, I was anything but.
The world carried on as if nothing had happened. After five days of bereavement leave, I was expected to return to work as if I’d been on vacation. Sympathy cards stopped arriving, his name faded from conversations, and my family fell back into its familiar dysfunction.
Meanwhile, everything inside me had shifted.
My confidant, protector, and teacher was gone.
His smile, his twinkle, his sass—suddenly only memories.
Finding Light in the Darkness
Grief changed the way I saw myself and the world.
Hobbies that once lit me up no longer held meaning, and I was left searching—for understanding, for connection, for a way to carry it all. Art became both a lifeline and a battle; some days, I nearly gave it up altogether. But grief has a strange way of reshaping us.
Through this journey, I discovered that grief is not something to “fix” or rush through—it’s something to witness, honor, and move with, at your own pace. Over time, I learned to hold space for my emotions, to listen to my inner voice, and to create rituals and practices that nurtured my healing.
Finding Light in the Darkness
Now, at Lighthouse Grief Coaching, I offer that same compassionate support to others. Through holistic coaching, peer support, and creative, art-based practices, I help women explore their grief safely, find their own sources of strength, and reconnect with a sense of purpose and hope.
Out of that darkness, I began creating a living art journal capturing my father’s final five days. It didn’t erase the pain, but it gave me a way to honour it and to keep moving forward.
That journal became a turning point. It sparked a deeper calling to study grief, death, and bereavement—and ultimately led me here, to Lighthouse, where I now walk alongside others navigating their own waves of loss.