Our Story
Four generations of grief, and the practice it built
Center for Compassion exists because its founder went looking for grief-literate care and could not find it — inside her own profession.
Hello. I am Terri Waibel, the founder of Center for Compassion. I am a bereaved mother. I am a bereaved sibling.
My ancestry includes a legacy of child and sibling death that extends back in family memory to the untimely death of my great-great grandmother, Sarah, which left eight children without their mother. Her daughter, Lillian, is my great-grandmother. Lillian was grieving the death of her mother when she also lost her twin sister, Lila. Lillian's daughter, Nancy, is my grandmother. Nancy became a bereaved mother when her five-year-old daughter, Terri Lynn, died. I was named in memory of Terri Lynn by my mother, Deb, who became a bereaved mother when my brother, Brian, died tragically in 2006.
Brian's death changed the fabric of our family system and guided me into action to become a social worker. Living inside of grieving families is all that my family has known for at least four generations.
Then, in 2012, I too became a bereaved mother. My second child, Kyndrid, died suddenly, unexpectedly, and with no explanation or cause of death. Her death catapulted me into despair I did not know was possible to survive, and I found myself acutely aware of the legacy of traumatic grief woven into my family history.
Being a licensed therapist in the social work profession at the time, I looked to my colleagues for help… except most did not know how to help. My own profession failed me at a time when I needed them the most. This vacancy and lack of therapy resources specific to traumatic death and grief was the impetus for the birth of Center for Compassion.
Our team at Center for Compassion is now creating a more compassionate world so that no person has limited support for grief, trauma, or suffering. If you have come here as a grieving person, I am so hopeful you are met with compassion in your grief.
We will remember them with you.
What guides us
Purpose, mission, vision
Our Purpose
Creating a more compassionate world so that no person has limited support for grief, trauma, or suffering.
Our Mission
To disrupt the medical model of behavioral health with accessible compassionate therapeutic services rooted in grief affirming, trauma responsive, and social-justice oriented approaches.
Our Vision
To live in a world where grief is only met with compassion.
Our Core Focus
We provide safe therapeutic services for painful life experiences.
Our Values
- Compassion
- Community
- Authenticity
- Safety
- Mindfulness
Our approach
Grief Affirming Practice®
Grief Affirming Practice® is the therapeutic approach Terri developed out of her own search for care. It holds that grief is not a disorder to be treated, a set of stages to be completed, or a problem to be solved. It is a natural human response to love and loss, and it deserves to exist without judgment, coercion, or a timeline.
Every clinician at Center for Compassion is trained in this approach. It is also taught to clinicians outside our practice through the Southwest Institute for Grief and Trauma Studies, founded to close the gap in grief education for helping professionals.
Center for Compassion is a female, grieving, queer owned and operated business.
That identity shapes how we practice: LGBTQIA+ affirming, culturally responsive, and oriented toward social justice as part of — not separate from — good clinical care.
Hurting? Reach out.
We're here to help.
Center for Compassion offers both telemedicine and in-person appointments based on availability. Someone from our team will get back to you within 1–2 business days.