COUNSELORS

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Cofounder, Executive Director, 

& Grief Counselor

About Tim:

Tim has wanted to be a social worker since he was 12 years old – a calling long in the making. Fast forwarding, prior to cofounding the center, Tim worked in hospice for 10 years – seven of those years were in a clinical supervisory role for 30+ social workers, chaplains, and bereavement counselors. Tim earned his Masters in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Michigan in 2011. He is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervisory Designation in the State of Ohio. Tim is certified as an Advanced Hospice and Palliative Care Social Worker from the National Social Work Association. He also teaches a course, Grief, Loss, and Trauma, to graduate-level social work students at Bowling Green State University, and earned his Master of Business Administration this year. The combination of his passion for leadership and helping those through death, dying, and grief has culminated in what is the Monarch Grief Center.

Interesting facts about Tim include that he was a Fulbright Scholar as a English Teaching Assistant in South Korea, has travelled to more than 40 countries, enjoys boating and wake surfing, has twin daughters that were born in 2017, and enjoys eating potatoes in any form.

Tim's Approach:

"Therapy is more about building new associations, making new, healthier default pathways. It is almost as if therapy is taking your two-lane dirt road and building a four-lane freeway alongside it. The old road stays, but you don't use it much anymore. Therapy is building a better alternative, a new default."

 - Dr. Bruce Perry

This quote is the basis for Tim's approach to counseling. While grief counseling is different than other forms of mental health counseling, there are still always new associations to be made. Through deeper-level listening, discussion, reflection and questioning, he enjoys helping people figure out the best way for them to continue to carry their grief forward. In the depths of grief, it is impossible to imagine any relief, but it is possible, even for you. Tim hopes to be able to instill some of that hope in you.

567-331-8601

tpolakowski@monarchgriefcenter.org

Cofounder, Outreach Director,

& Grief Counselor

About Amy:

 Amy formally came to her calling in social work a bit later in life when she earned her Masters in Social Work (MSW) in 2021. Previously, Amy worked in various non-profits including a national service organization and a church. Immediately prior to Monarch, Amy worked as an inpatient hospice social worker where she and Tim met. Amy was humbled by the sacred work of sitting at the bedside of the dying – listening to their stories, holding their hands, and helping them transition to what is next after this life. Equally important and sacred was talking to their loved ones, explaining what was happening, and processing their grief with them. She is honored to be doing similar work in her new capacity at Monarch Grief Center.

Some interesting facts about Amy include that she once wrote and performed a piece for an off-Broadway show, has filled too much of her memory with 80s pop music lyrics, has a long-time dream of finding a hidden treasure in a historic home, and has a sweet golden retriever, Emmy (who will occasionally accompany her in the office.)

Amy's Approach:

“Every story matters … We are all worthy of telling our stories and having them heard. We all need to be seen and honored in the same way that we all need to breathe.”

- Brené Brown, PhD

Your life is your story. Sharing your story is a gift to the listener. While listening without judgement or blame is a gift to the teller of the story. Amy believes in the value of listening with empathy and considers it an honor to help tease out the pain and negative feelings of grief that often get entangled with your ability to heal. Amy will draw on your inner strengths and guide you in creating new meanings and new perspectives as you go through you grief journey. 

567-331-8601

arowe@monarchgriefcenter.org

Amy Rowe, LSW, is under the supervision of Tim Polakowski, LISW-S, I.1502338-SUPV, and Barb Reszko, LISW-S, I.1430070-SUPV.

Clinical Director & Grief Counselor

About Maren:

Maren knew from a young age that she wanted to work with older adults, and through various professional and personal life experiences, quickly discovered a deep passion and calling for working with and walking alongside people of all ages who are grieving. Maren is a proud Falcon, and earned her Bachelors of Gerontology in 2016 and her Masters of Social Work (MSW) in 2019 from Bowling Green State University. Maren is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervisory Designation in the State of Ohio and is certified as an Advanced Hospice and Palliative Care Social Worker through the National Social Work Association. Maren also teaches a course, Grief, Loss, and Trauma, to graduate-level social work students at BGSU. Maren comes to Monarch with a combined eight years of experience working in Hospice care, five of which were spent as a Bereavement Counselor and Bereavement Team Coordinator. Maren considers it a great privilege and honor to sit with and bear witness to a person’s vulnerability and pain, and takes great care in providing support and solace to those walking through grief. Continuing this important and meaningful work at Monarch Grief Center is truly a gift and dream-come-true for her. 

An interesting fact about Maren is that she was Frieda Falcon, BGSU’s mascot, in college! Outside of her deep love of all things orange and brown, Maren enjoys watercolor painting, a good walk, exploring Good Reads for the next best book to read, honey cinnamon lattes, and spending time with her husband, family, and friends. 

Maren's Approach:

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves… Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

While there is no concrete “answer” to the “questions" of grief, Maren appreciates the tenderness at which the poet Rilke addresses the messiness of being human… because boy, do we have questions! It takes immense courage and vulnerability to seek support. Knowing personally the benefit of therapy, Maren takes a wholehearted approach by exploring the depths of your story, asking the hard questions, helping identify the myriads of emotions that arise, and championing you all along the way. Maren hopes you know that you are worthy of love, belonging, empathy, and a space that feels warm, safe,

non-judgmental, and uniquely yours. 

567-331-8601

msimon@monarchgriefcenter.org

Grief Counselor

About Nancy:

Nancy's Approach:

“And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.”

- Maya Angelou

Nancy prioritizes providing a warm and welcoming space where vulnerability is embraced and encouraged. She aims to minimize pesky unrealistic expectations of yourself that can stand in the way of moving forward, and actively listens to you and your story. By seeing the good in everyone and acknowledging others’ unique strengths and gifts, Nancy wants to support and celebrate who you can become out of grief. 

567-331-8601

Support Group Counselor

About Stephene:

Stephene's  been a helping professional since 2008, working with humans across the life-span. She currently works as a therapist in a group practice setting, and  provides group grief counseling at Monarch's bi-monthly Loss to Suicide specialized support group.

Stephene's Approach:

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”

- Mister Fred Rogers

Stephene recognizes humans cannot heal in isolation, and thus takes a client-led  approach. She is a huge supporter of survivor-led interventions and the importance of sharing stories in safe places. This group is especially important to Stephene as a survivor of suicide herself, as her dad died by suicide in 2009.

567-331-8601

Support Group Counselor

About Shana:

Shana was introduced to social work in 2010 while studying nursing. Pregnancy complications introduced her to a nurse who was part of a team of nurses and social workers who responded to stillbirths and infant deaths. It was then that Shana realized how one could support patients and their families outside of medicine. She changed her major to Social Work the next day, started volunteering with Hospice of Northwest Ohio, and read everything she could find on grief and bereavement.

Shana's Approach:

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent

to reply.”

- Stephen R. Covey

Throughout her career, Shana has focused on grief and bereavement education as a valuable means of providing support. She focuses on creating a death-positive community where people can look at death as an expected ending to a wonderful life. To do this education, she creates a space where all emotions can enter, discomfort is embraced, and the “unpretty” aspects of grief can be vocalized. She believes perspective is everything, and that giving others the opportunity to see your perspective can broaden theirs. This is why she loves support groups, as sharing experiences validates feelings that oftentimes feel confusing and overwhelming. Supporting each other through difficult things–specifically related to grief–can be healing for everyone. In leading the Parent & Adult Sibling Loss group, she believes in the importance of listening to understand and sitting with someone in their feelings. She realizes that words aren’t always needed, but presence always is. 

567-331-8601

Billings Department

Director of Communications