Grief and anxiety don’t wait for appointments. They surface in the middle of the night, during a drive, or in the quiet of the kitchen when the world feels still. For Anita Salek Aasen, LCSW, those moments are not interruptions to healing—they are the work itself.

After more than thirty years as a licensed clinical social worker, Anita has helped people navigate the spaces between pain and renewal. Through her therapy practice, she meets clients where they are and helps them uncover a sense of purpose within their own stories.

The Intersection of Life, Loss, and Meaning

Anita’s memoir, From Grief to Grace, reveals the personal foundation of her professional philosophy. In it, she writes about losing her cousin Lou, a relationship so formative it continues to shape how she understands love, attachment, and healing. That experience deepened her belief that pain and purpose are not opposites but partners in transformation.

Her book extends that belief beyond clinical walls, offering a model for living with loss rather than simply recovering from it. In both her writing and therapy work, Anita helps people recognize that the human capacity for resilience is not something we earn—it’s something we remember.

The Work of Listening Deeply

Losing her cousin Lou taught Anita more than the language of grief—it taught her the power of silence. In the months and years after his passing, she discovered that absolute comfort rarely comes from advice or explanation. It comes from presence. From simply being there, steady and open, when words can’t make sense of the pain. That lesson became the foundation of her life’s work: learning to listen in ways that heal.

When Anita meets a new client, she doesn’t rush toward solutions. She listens—fully, without judgment, because she understands that pain wants to be witnessed before it can shift. Many of her clients arrive carrying unspoken grief, anxious thoughts, or the heavy disorientation that follows life transitions. What they often find in her care is not just understanding, but the safety to exhale.

Through compassion anchored in experience, Anita helps them trace their pain back to its meaning. She believes that our deepest wounds often reveal what we value most—and when we face them with honesty, they can become the doorway to purpose.

Guiding People Back to Themselves

Anita’s approach to therapy blends the structure of evidence-based practice with the soulfulness of presence. She integrates techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and trauma-informed care, but it’s her empathy that turns those methods into healing moments.

She helps people reconnect with their internal strength. For some, it’s learning to trust again. For others, it’s rediscovering joy after years of just surviving. Each journey is personal, and Anita walks beside her clients as they build lives that feel meaningful, not just manageable.

Purpose as a Pathway

Anita often reminds her clients that meaning doesn’t erase suffering—it gives it direction. Her sessions emphasize reconnecting with values, relationships, and creative expression as ways to transform inner struggle into forward movement. That same principle anchors From Grief to Grace: the idea that love, when tended to, can evolve into legacy.

Through her dual roles as therapist and author, Anita models what she teaches: that even our hardest seasons can lead us to something true. Pain may change us, but with time and presence, it can also reveal the shape of what still matters most.

The Path Forward

Whether guiding someone through anxiety, walking beside a mourner, or writing about her own journey, Anita Salek Aasen’s work points toward the same truth: healing and purpose grow from the same soil. Beyond the therapy room, she continues to remind readers and clients alike that the heart can hold both sorrow and strength, and that grace is never beyond reach.

Visit anitasalekaasen.com to learn more about her work.

Disclaimer: The information presented is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as medical or therapeutic advice. Readers are encouraged to seek professional guidance tailored to their specific needs. Any references to therapeutic practices, experiences, or journeys are personal accounts and may not represent the experiences of all individuals.