Kristy Brosz, MSW, RCSW
Registered Clinical Social Worker/Mental Health Therapist
*Chronic Illness/Rare Disease Therapist & Trauma/Grief Specialist* Kristy's practice focuses on the intersection between trauma and grief/loss. Kristy has a special interest in the areas of trauma, grief/loss, rare/chronic illness, palliative care, and adoption/foster/kinship care.
Colombe Mazerolle
Licensed Counselling Therapist - C
Are you struggling with intense emotions that feel overwhelming, ongoing conflict or disconnection in relationships or feeling stuck in survival mode or repeating self-sabotaging patterns? I'm Colombe, therapist at Ember Counselling Therapy, and I help individuals and couples build emotional balance, heal from past pain, and create healthier relationships.
Iriny Salib-Sharkawy
Registered Social Worker
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Frequently Asked Questions About Chronic Illness
How does chronic illness affect mental health?
Chronic illness and mental health are profoundly interconnected. Depression and anxiety affect approximately 25–30% of people living with serious chronic conditions — two to three times the rate in the general population. The physical symptoms, loss of function and role, disruption to life plans, unpredictability, and the medical system itself can all contribute to psychological distress. Conversely, untreated depression worsens pain, fatigue, and adherence to medical treatment — creating cycles that worsen both the illness and mental health.
What is adjustment disorder in the context of chronic illness?
Adjustment disorder is a clinical response to a significant life stressor — including a serious medical diagnosis — in which emotional symptoms develop in response to the stressor and significantly impair functioning. It is one of the most common mental health conditions following a new serious illness diagnosis. Therapy helps people move through the adjustment process — understanding, accepting, and adapting to a new reality — rather than remaining stuck in the acute distress of the initial impact.
What therapy approaches help with chronic illness?
CBT for chronic illness focuses on the thoughts, behaviours, and activity patterns that maintain distress and functional limitations. ACT addresses the psychological flexibility needed to live a meaningful life in the presence of ongoing illness. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has strong evidence for improving quality of life with chronic illness and pain. Grief-informed approaches address the multiple losses that accompany chronic illness. Many therapists integrate elements of all these based on the person's specific illness and what they most need.
What is the grief of chronic illness?
People with chronic illness often grieve many losses — the self before illness, activities and roles that are no longer possible, the expected life trajectory, spontaneity and planning, and physical capacity. This grief is frequently disenfranchised — not recognized by others as "real" loss because the person is still alive. Effective therapy acknowledges and validates this grief, helps process it without being defined by it, and supports the construction of a meaningful life within the new reality.
How does therapy fit alongside medical treatment for chronic illness?
Therapy and medical treatment are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Better mental health is associated with improved medication adherence, better communication with the medical team, more effective pain management, and reduced disease burden. Therapy is not a replacement for medical care — it is a component of comprehensive care that addresses the whole person. Many chronic illness therapists are willing to collaborate with the medical team, with your consent, to ensure psychological and physical care are integrated.