Integrative Story Telling: Traumatic Loss and Grief

Have you experienced an unexpected, violent or traumatic death of a significant person in your life?

The death of a loved one or close friend under sudden, unexpected, violent or traumatic circumstances can present complex problems in the grief process. Grief can become complicated. This group offers a supportive and safe space for survivors to share their loss and begin to move through the healing process.

Group participants can expect to focus on mindful engagement, commemoration of their loved one and resiliency skills and practices through sharing stories, discussion, and learning and sharing coping skills.

Each session will include short grounding/meditative exercises at the beginning and end, brief check-ins, psychoeducational teaching, exercises and group discussions and sharing.

We are currently accepting intakes for an upcoming session – Starting in February 2024. Please contact Natalie if you’d like to learn more or join an interest list.

Who

  • Those who have experienced a traumatic loss, e.g., suicide, homicide, accident, overdose, COVID, etc. 
  • Adults (18+) residing in VA, MD, DC, FL or AZ
  • Must be at least 3 months out from loss experience
  • We ask participants to commit to attending all 10 sessions to support group cohesion

When

This is a 10 week course

Tuesday Evenings | Feb-April 2024

Where

This group meets virtually via a HIPAA-compliant platform.

Registration

Please contact Natalie, group co-facilitator, with questions or to join.

A complimentary 30-minute intake call is required to ensure the group is a good fit for each client.

Cost

$330 ($33/session) due in full on/before the first session. Payment plans may be discussed on a case-by-case basis.


Meet the Facilitators

Carol S. Miller, LCSW has been working in the field of grief and loss for well over 30+ years.  She is a Certified Compassionate Bereavement Care Provider, a Certified Creative Grief Support Practitioner, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Grief Educator.  Carol was also trained in the Restorative Retelling model (the model on which this group is based) in July of 2020, and has facilitated several groups using this model.

Natalie Jensen, LCSW, Supervisee in Social Work, has been walking with those experiencing grief and loss for over 15 years. Continuing training includes as a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Center for Loss and Life Transition Death and Grief Studies Certificate, courses with David Kessler, Paul Denniston and Joy Samuels. Natalie has facilitated several Sunstone group experiences for adults and adolescent grief groups with a national non-profit. She encourages an integrative, companioning approach on the journey of loss and life transitions.


Grief – a Journey Rather Than a Destination

Over the last few years, it has seemed that the world around us is full of grief. Whether it’s for the pre-pandemic world, a job, financial security, or the loss of a loved one, grief has become more of a collective experience. There is a lot of advice out there on how to “handle” or “manage” grief, with the idea that it’s something with a finite conclusion. But the reality is that grief is not something that goes away with time. Rather, it’s an experience that morphs and changes over time. Perhaps it’s more helpful to think of grief as a journey, rather than a destination.