Amber N. Stanley, MSW, LCSW
Owner, writer, Grief & Transition Coach
Hi, I'm Amber. Here's a little background on me. I'm a first-generation Floridian, adopted and raised by my grandparents in south Florida. I went from an only child to the youngest of five females, with parents who were a generation removed from most of my peers. In other words, I was raised old-school and show up twice in my own family tree.
I attended college at Agnes Scott College outside of Atlanta, where I received my BA in psychology. During my junior year, my father died, which profoundly affected my life trajectory. After his death, I moved often and had ten different addresses across three different states in the span of five years. (I had no idea how hard it is to shake the FBI!)
Following graduation I moved back to Florida, albeit slightly further north. It was in central Florida that I continued my career in the mental health field. I earned my Masters degree at the University of Central Florida, and began working for hospices as a medical social worker and a bereavement counselor. I've also worked as a Social Worker and Community Liaison for cremation/funeral homes in Central Florida and in the Triangle area of North Carolina. I moved up north to North Carolina in 2014 (yes, just about everywhere is either "up north" or "out west" to a Florida native!) I'm still not quite sure about snow and ice. I had to ask a stranger at Target what an ice scraper looked like when I moved here (I had figured it must look like a credit card).
Along my journey I've learned that I have an affinity for working with those going through their own journey of grief and loss. (I'm a lot of fun at parties!) I specialize in helping people facing bereavement, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed by life changes. I help people to make life transitions in a dignified manner. Because change happens.
I attended college at Agnes Scott College outside of Atlanta, where I received my BA in psychology. During my junior year, my father died, which profoundly affected my life trajectory. After his death, I moved often and had ten different addresses across three different states in the span of five years. (I had no idea how hard it is to shake the FBI!)
Following graduation I moved back to Florida, albeit slightly further north. It was in central Florida that I continued my career in the mental health field. I earned my Masters degree at the University of Central Florida, and began working for hospices as a medical social worker and a bereavement counselor. I've also worked as a Social Worker and Community Liaison for cremation/funeral homes in Central Florida and in the Triangle area of North Carolina. I moved up north to North Carolina in 2014 (yes, just about everywhere is either "up north" or "out west" to a Florida native!) I'm still not quite sure about snow and ice. I had to ask a stranger at Target what an ice scraper looked like when I moved here (I had figured it must look like a credit card).
Along my journey I've learned that I have an affinity for working with those going through their own journey of grief and loss. (I'm a lot of fun at parties!) I specialize in helping people facing bereavement, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed by life changes. I help people to make life transitions in a dignified manner. Because change happens.
Everything is a story, though it changes depending on how it's told, by whom and to whom. You can flip the script, the narrative, and it becomes a more heartening or disheartening story. Navigate the uncertainly, chaos, changes and flow of life and nature. It's not only possible, it's necessary. It's reinvention. Focus on what you can control--and it's never other people. Rebuild. Create your own stories, your own narrative, your own life and adventures.
Philosophy on loss
I've seen a lot of people at end of life and after death over the years. It gives a different sort of perspective.
We live in a very death-denying time and society here in the U.S. Most people don't talk about death and dying nearly as much, and I sometimes forget that it isn't a normal part of everyday conversation for them as it is for me. Yet it is a reality for literally everyone.
I don't believe that relationships end at death. Instead, they change in form - from a physical form to an emotional and even spiritual one. They're like inertia or relationship "echoes." And these change over time and life-stage development as well.
Every death, every grief experience is as unique as a fingerprint, though there may be commonalities. Because every relationship and life is different. Through our relationships, we are forever shaped and changed. This is the legacy of those we have lost, and our role (whether we are conscious of it or not) is to carry it on.
We live in a very death-denying time and society here in the U.S. Most people don't talk about death and dying nearly as much, and I sometimes forget that it isn't a normal part of everyday conversation for them as it is for me. Yet it is a reality for literally everyone.
I don't believe that relationships end at death. Instead, they change in form - from a physical form to an emotional and even spiritual one. They're like inertia or relationship "echoes." And these change over time and life-stage development as well.
Every death, every grief experience is as unique as a fingerprint, though there may be commonalities. Because every relationship and life is different. Through our relationships, we are forever shaped and changed. This is the legacy of those we have lost, and our role (whether we are conscious of it or not) is to carry it on.