ASHLEY MIELKE

B.A., M.Sc. MFT

Founder, Registered Psychologist

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Specialties

  • Grief

  • Suicide Bereavement

  • Traumatic Loss

  • Pregnancy Loss

  • Divorce or Break-Up

  • Women’s Issues

  • Relationship Difficulties

Clients

  • Adults

  • Grieving Couples / Families

Training

  • The Grief Recovery Method®

  • EMDR

  • Specialization in Suicide Bereavement

  • Ashley Mielke brings forth nearly 15 years of therapeutic experience supporting individuals, couples, families, and groups through grief and loss. She has been a Registered Psychologist in Edmonton since 2013 and is a Level II Advanced Certified Grief Recovery Specialist® with advanced training in grief, trauma, and bereavement. Ashley has also been qualified to provide Expert Witness testimony in court proceedings.

    Ashley has extensive clinical experience working with suicide-bereaved adults, with particular depth supporting women following the suicide of a spouse, child, or parent. Her work is informed by years of direct clinical practice, leadership within the grief field, and advanced doctoral training focused on suicide bereavement.

    Ashley holds a Master of Science in Marital and Family Therapy from Loma Linda University, California, graduating Summa Cum Laude (Highest Academic Distinction). During her graduate training, she completed a two-year clinical internship as a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice, providing therapy and assessment services to individuals, couples, families, and groups. She also completed Level One Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy.

    Following her full registration as a psychologist in 2013, Ashley became a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist® after training under John James, Founder of The Grief Recovery Institute®. The day after completing her certification, Ashley founded The Grief and Trauma Healing Centre, recognizing early on that serving grieving individuals would become her life’s work.

    From 2014 to 2026, Ashley served as Canada’s exclusive Grief Recovery Method® Certification Trainer, providing advanced professional training to psychologists, mental health professionals, physicians, nurses, clergy, funeral professionals, first responders, military personnel, educators, and other helping professionals. Since 2020, she has also served as an international trainer for The Grief Recovery Institute®, certifying professionals across multiple countries. Ashley was one of a small number of trainers worldwide authorized to certify others in this method.

    In 2024, Ashley completed the Grief Care Professional Certificate Program, training under Megan Devine, a leading mental health professional in the field of grief. This six-month certification further deepened her grief-informed approach, emphasizing compassionate, non-pathologizing support for individuals navigating profound loss.

    In 2020, Ashley completed EMDR Basic Training through EMDR Consulting, an EMDRIA-approved training provider.

    In 2021, Ashley began her Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program through California Southern University, with doctoral research focused on suicide bereavement, posttraumatic growth, and meaning-making following suicide loss. This advanced training reflects her ongoing commitment to understanding the unique emotional, psychological, relational, and existential complexities faced by suicide loss survivors—particularly women—and to providing care that is trauma-informed, evidence-based, and deeply attuned to this population.

    In 2024, Ashley made the intentional decision to sell The Grief and Trauma Healing Centre to Insight Psychological, confident in the continuation of its mission under new ownership. This transition allowed her to step back from administrative leadership and refocus her clinical and scholarly work within the grief and suicide-bereavement space.

    Ashley’s educational background also includes a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology from Concordia University College of Alberta, as well as two undergraduate clinical placements: one with Alberta Health Services (out-patient mental health) and another in forensic psychiatry at Alberta Hospital Edmonton.

    Outside of her clinical work, Ashley regularly speaks at conferences and community events and facilitates professional workshops, consultation, and training on the topics of grief, suicide bereavement, and loss.

  • Ashley is a member in good standing with the College of Alberta Psychologists, Psychologists’ Association of Alberta, and The Grief Recovery Institute.

    • Diverse Voices Family Violence Conference: Healing From the Grief of Family Violence, November 17, 2022

    • Earls Restaurant, From Her View: Women in Leadership Summit, Panel Speaker, November 8, 2022

    • Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, Stony Plain Suicide Prevention Program, Keynote Speaker, November 20, 2021

    • Elevate: Hope, The Virtual Effect, Keynote Speaker, November 9, 2021

    • Tee it Up for Mental Health, Annual Golf Tournament, Keynote Speaker, August 26, 2021

    • Newfoundland and Labrador Counsellors’ and Psychologists’ Association, 2-Day Professional Learning Workshop Facilitator, June 3 & 10, 2021

    • WESK Summit, Women Entrepreneurs Saskatchewan, Morning Keynote Speaker, May 20, 2021

    • Alberta Pharmacists’ Association, Conference Speaker, November 14, 2020

    • Helping Families Navigate the Grief of Living with a Brain Tumour, Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, Workshop Speaker, October 24, 2020

    • Grief and Dementia, Caregivers Alberta, Workshop Speaker, June 30, 2020

    • Breaking Through the Barriers of Unresolved Grief, The Rotary Club of Edmonton, Keynote Speaker, January 6, 2020

    • Keys to Creating a Successful Grief Recovery Business, Grief Recovery International Conference, September 2018

    • Grief and Compassion, Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada Conference, Keynote Speaker, June 9, 2018

    • Grief and Compassion, Bowden Federal Institution, Two-Day Corporate Training, September 28-29, 2017

    • Grief and Compassion, Hillberg and Berk Retail Manager Brand Conference, Workshop Speaker, April 25, 2017

    • The Power of the Grief Recovery Method in a Mental Health Setting, Grief Recovery International Conference, October 29, 2016