Meet Our Compassionate Team
At This Thing Called Grief, we are proud to have a team of dedicated professionals who bring deep empathy, professional expertise, and personal understanding to support those facing grief and loss.
Sam Vander Schelde
Sam Vander Schelde (he/him) is a Registered Social Worker, Thanatologist, and grief specialist who provides compassionate support to individuals, couples, and families navigating grief, loss, trauma, and life's most difficult transitions.
Sam offers a warm, non-judgmental space where people can explore grief, identity, relationships, and life changes in ways that feel safe, grounded, and authentic. He works with individuals from all walks of life and has a particular interest in supporting fathers, men, and caregivers, while also helping women, couples, and families navigate the complexities of loss, caregiving, and change.
Drawing on both professional expertise and lived experience, Sam helps clients process difficult emotions, strengthen coping strategies, build resilience, and reconnect with a sense of purpose and meaning. His approach is rooted in genuine connection, practical support, and the belief that healing begins when people feel seen, heard, and understood.
Through a combination of social work and thanatology, Sam empowers individuals and families to navigate challenges with greater confidence, emotional clarity, and hope while honouring the experiences that have shaped them.
Kimberley Vander Schelde
As our Community Liaison and dedicated grief, bereavement, and loss specialist, Kim serves individuals and families across Canada with compassion, understanding, and genuine care.
Grounded in both professional training and lived experience, Kim brings a deep appreciation for the many forms grief can take. Her understanding has been shaped by experiences with loss within the first responder community, suicide survivorship, infertility, caregiving, life-limiting illness, and other significant life transitions. These experiences have reinforced her belief that no two grief journeys are the same and that every person deserves compassionate, individualized support.
Through client intake, community partnerships, and special projects, Kim works to expand access to grief support while helping individuals and families feel connected, understood, and less alone. She is passionate about identifying gaps in care, building meaningful community connections, and creating initiatives that ensure people have support when they need it most.
Kim believes that healing begins with compassionate connection and strives to ensure that everyone who reaches out is met with dignity, empathy, and hope.
Sarah Pollard
Sarah is a compassionate, trauma-informed Registered Social Worker with over 20 years of experience supporting individuals through life transitions, loss, and emotional challenges.
She provides strengths-based, solution-focused counselling informed by CBT, along with practical resource navigation during vulnerable times.
Sarah works with adults and individuals across the lifespan, offering care for concerns including anxiety, depression, grief and bereavement, infertility and miscarriage loss, palliative care, relationship challenges, emotional regulation, and cognitive changes.
Her passion lies in creating a safe, supportive space where people can process grief, build resilience, and move gently from struggle toward healing.