grief care
The dirt, trees, wind, sky, plants and fungi are here to help hold your grief.
They can soak it in, help it move, and support change when needed.
Along with these sturdy allies from the more-than-human world, I offer the gentle container of this human ear and heart.
How we’ll work together
With intention and care, you and your grief are supported through:
Gentle, somatic and sense-based practices
Building and nurturing your connection to the web of being for care, support, and guidance
Practices such as art, journaling, tarot and oracle cards, as well as other technologies and tools to better understand and support your grief
Most commonly, we meet for five sessions, with the fifth session held in a nearby forest.
At each session, I’ll share a custom-crafted herbal tea, and I’ll send you home with a bag of your own.
Please note that Grief Care is not therapy. It is offered as a form of grief support which is grounded in nurturing relationships with the more-than-human world, wise and well ancestors and guides, and your own embodied wisdom.
Frequently asked questions
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Initially, we plan to meet for five sessions. The fifth session can be held in a local forest or other outdoor space, if you wish. If you are interested in continuing Grief Care past 5 sessions, we can discuss this option.
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No, Grief Care is not therapy. Grief Care is offered as supportive presence and deep listening; it can be considered counseling or coaching. To support you in your grief, I will accompany you as you tend to relationships with the more-than-human world (aka “nature”); wise and well ancestors and guides (if this fits for you); and with your own embodied wisdom.
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I work with people who are grieving any kind of loss. This can include the loss of a relationship, job, or home; grief as part of a gender journey; the death of a significant being in your life (human or other animal); and more. You and your grief are welcome here.
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I carry over 20 years of professionally working with crisis, trauma, and grief. I carry a lifetime (and beyond) of personally working with my own and others’ grief.
In my own life, I have experienced grief through the death of many beloveds, including my father, other kin, a beloved friend, and animal companions. I’ve grieved the experience of infertility and miscarriages, divorce, and my own stable ground while living with mental and emotional health struggles.
If you’d like to learn more about me and my experiences working with grief, please visit my About page. You are also welcome to reach out to hello@rosecedarforesttherapy.com.
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I do not accept insurance. I do offer discount codes to support financial access. Please see this page for more information and discount codes.
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I am happy to wear a mask if needed/requested. Please don’t hesitate to ask. If you are feeling sick at all, please reschedule your appointment (I will do the same). Please reach out with any questions.
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Most often, I meet people at the Portland Grief House. Many people like to meet in the forest for their 5th session (or sooner). We can also meet virtually if you prefer.
I offer free, 15 minute consultations over zoom, to decide whether
Grief Care is the right fit for you. You can schedule that here.
For any session, please see my scheduling page for discount codes to support financial access.
If you prefer to meet virtually, please indicate this when scheduling.
We carry grief in our hearts, minds, bodies, spirits, families, communities - every part of our lives can be touched by grief.
Hard to hold and often
impossible to put down,
it seeps into the bones, and lights up the nervous system.
Grief can be so very big. It can take up our whole world - an overlay everywhere we look.
And it can be so very small - infusing every cell, and every breath we take.
I believe that it’s in turning to our larger world, to the web that holds us and gives us life,
that we can truly be held.
This is who I call on and partner with to
help us hold your grief.
How I think about and
work with grief ~
Too often I’ve seen grieving people receive the message that their grief is too much.
Grievers are told they should be over it - they should be fixed, strong, healed. Our grief and our grieving selves are seen as a problem to be solved - or turned aside and turned away.
We may be pushed out of the circles we hold dear. People are scared, they’re unsure, they’re uncomfortable. They don’t know what to do, and they just want us to be “better.”
I’ve come to believe that “better” is too limited an aspiration.
Instead, I think of grief as an experience that can become integrated into our lives. This integration can be both supportive and deeply meaningful.
We can even, sometimes, find joy, magic, and connection inside of and alongside our grief.
The trees that give us breath, the soil that gives us life, the beings of air and
earth and water, seen and unseen -
they are our family, and they want to support us. We can ask for their
help, support, love, and guidance.
I am here to be that person that is not afraid, and to help you
forge, reweave and nurture your connection with your more-than-human kin.
To learn more, you are welcome to schedule a free 15 minute consultation, or email hello@rosecedarforesttherapy.com.
Some other important things to know:
I have learned that our grief is thorougly entangled with who we are and the world we live in. Our experience of grief is our own, and is deeply woven with our intersecting identities; our relationships with family and ancestors; the body we live in/are; access to financial resources; and more. In my work, I honor the tension between grief as a universal experience, and as a totally unique and individual one.
In my work with grieving people (and in all areas of my life) I work for liberation and justice, and I welcome all of who you are.
I believe it’s also important to state my identities and some of the life experiences I bring to Grief Care. I am a white, cis, queer femme, woman. I am Jewish (complicatedly so, as many of us are), and also a descendant of Irish, Scottish, and German ancestors. I am a deeply grateful animist.
No matter what you’re grieving for, your grief matters, and you deserve care and support. If I am not the right fit for what you need and want, I will do my best to help you find other resources.
The grief support I offer is considered counseling or coaching, not therapy.
If you are in urgent need of mental health support and are in Multnomah County, please call the Crisis Line at 503-988-4888 and find other urgent resources here. Click here for national crisis lines, or dial 988.