Tonya M. Andrews, Ph.D., NCC, CAGCS

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Grief Expert

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Join date: Jun 10, 2026

About

Tonya M. Andrews, Ph.D., NCC, CAGCS, is a grief and trauma counselor, counselor educator, clinical supervisor, and founder of Learning to Live Again Grief & Trauma Therapy. Dr. Andrews holds a Ph.D. in Counselor education and supervision where her research examines how counselor educators and clinical supervisors can aid in new counselors developing competency in grief counseling. Her work is grounded in a simple belief: grief is not limited to death. Loss can accompany trauma, relationships, identity, careers, aging, caregiving, life transitions, and the many unexpected ways our lives change.

As a Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist, Dr. Andrews has worked extensively with grieving individuals, first responders, veterans, healthcare professionals, and others navigating traumatic and non-death loss. She is especially passionate about helping counselors and other helping professionals become more confident in recognizing and responding to grief in all its forms.

Through her clinical work, teaching, research, and writing, Dr. Andrews works to expand the way we understand grief—because we never simply “move on” from the experiences that change us. We learn how to move forward with them.

Posts (16)

Aug 22, 2026 ∙ 2 min

Sometimes grief begins long before goodbye

Yesterday, my son—who also serves as my office manager—answered a phone call from a grandmother whose young grandson had recently died and she needed support in her grief. One of the things I admire most about him is his ability to connect with people. From the very first conversation, he has a remarkable gift for helping callers feel heard, understood, and safe enough to take the next step. Normally calls don’t impact him. But this call stayed with him. Later, he told me the grandmother was...

Aug 16, 2026 ∙ 2 min

The Losses for Which There is No Funeral

Occupational culture, identity, and the grief of losing the uniform There he was—a young police officer who desperately wanted to return to duty. He had survived the shooting. What he had not survived unchanged were the years of calls that came before it. Call after call. Trauma after trauma. Experiences that had accumulated until his nervous system could no longer carry what was being asked of it. He committed himself to therapy. He worked hard. He wanted to heal. And he wanted his life...

Aug 9, 2026 ∙ 2 min

Grief is cultural. So is occupational grief.

Grief is cultural. So is occupational grief. When we talk about multiculturalism in counselor education, we often think about race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, and geographic community. We should. But our understanding of culture cannot stop there. Military members and first responders belong to distinct occupational cultures, and within those cultures are subcultures shaped by branch, department, region, role, and generations of tradition. They have their own language. Their own...