Please join us for a unique training opportunity for Grief Companion Training graduates to intimately explore disenfranchised grief,
also known as "unattended sorrow,"
within an intimate community of compassionate care.
Thursday, January 29 from 1:00-5:00 pm E.T. on Zoom
The training session will be recorded if you cannot attend.
Why Disenfranchised Grief Training? Why Now?
Disenfranchised grief manifests as a kaleidoscope of fractal experiences,
including these:
What This Accelerated Training Will Provide:
In this 4-hour Winter Seminar, we will examine how disenfranchised grief may be "the grief" of our times, and why it is vitally important to uplift and tend it with deep care and compassion now. Disenfranchised grief, also know as "unattended sorrow" (Stephen Levine, 2005) can be defined as "grief that is not openly acknowledged, socially accepted or publicly mourned." This may result in isolation, relationship distress, emotional imbalance, mental health issues, displaced anger, apathy, or hopelessness. Due to lack of adequate understanding, support or care, disenfranchised grief often morphs into prolonged or complicated grief.
Our exploration of Disenfranchised Grief includes:
• how to recognize its presence and signs
• why disenfranchised grief is affecting us individually and collectively now more than in previous decades
• how our current cultural climate is intensifying this kind of grief
• what people experiencing unattended sorrow truly need from others, including spiritual care providers
• how to promote healing of disenfranchised grief within the spiritual direction/grief companionship space
• how creative and contemplative methods sourced in body, mind, spirit wellness can bring relief, healing and hope
• how somatic, embodied practices can bring clarity and release
We will have the opportunity to bear witness to and hold sacred space for our individual experiences of disenfranchised grief in a prayerful, contemplative way. This will be done individually, reflectively, and in small, sacred listening hoops. Two dynamic guest presenters will also be lending their expertise to this training.
Our exploration of Disenfranchised Grief includes:
• how to recognize its presence and signs
• why disenfranchised grief is affecting us individually and collectively now more than in previous decades
• how our current cultural climate is intensifying this kind of grief
• what people experiencing unattended sorrow truly need from others, including spiritual care providers
• how to promote healing of disenfranchised grief within the spiritual direction/grief companionship space
• how creative and contemplative methods sourced in body, mind, spirit wellness can bring relief, healing and hope
• how somatic, embodied practices can bring clarity and release
We will have the opportunity to bear witness to and hold sacred space for our individual experiences of disenfranchised grief in a prayerful, contemplative way. This will be done individually, reflectively, and in small, sacred listening hoops. Two dynamic guest presenters will also be lending their expertise to this training.
Skill-building with Guest Teachers
"The Body Has A Story to Tell" with Cami Beecroft-Mann:
We have a physiological response to grief. Grief is an embodied experience and the body holds a deep knowing. It serves those grieving in particular and necessary ways. Welcoming embodied movements of wisdom and mourning allow those grieving to navigate the weightedness of their grief when words cannot or will not come or when the grief feels too raw to the touch. This presentation will discuss the body as a narrative storyteller and offer gentle, accessible, embodied practices to integrate into companioning sessions.
About Cami: Cami Beecroft-Mann joins us with 28 years of pastoral care experience in one-on-one, group,
and organizational settings. For the past 11 years, Cami has been practicing soulcare companioning. While being trained in a classical, contemplative model of spiritual direction, and Grief Companion Training through The Metta Center, Cami has enhanced her practice through additional trainings in trauma-informed care, somatic practices, and breathwork facilitation. She is currently in the process of founding a public service non-profit, The Center of Sorrow, to offer individual and communal experiences of attending the sorrows of non-death, as well as death losses. She resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
We have a physiological response to grief. Grief is an embodied experience and the body holds a deep knowing. It serves those grieving in particular and necessary ways. Welcoming embodied movements of wisdom and mourning allow those grieving to navigate the weightedness of their grief when words cannot or will not come or when the grief feels too raw to the touch. This presentation will discuss the body as a narrative storyteller and offer gentle, accessible, embodied practices to integrate into companioning sessions.
About Cami: Cami Beecroft-Mann joins us with 28 years of pastoral care experience in one-on-one, group,
and organizational settings. For the past 11 years, Cami has been practicing soulcare companioning. While being trained in a classical, contemplative model of spiritual direction, and Grief Companion Training through The Metta Center, Cami has enhanced her practice through additional trainings in trauma-informed care, somatic practices, and breathwork facilitation. She is currently in the process of founding a public service non-profit, The Center of Sorrow, to offer individual and communal experiences of attending the sorrows of non-death, as well as death losses. She resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"Sacred Revealing: Creative Practice to Tend What is Obscured" with Christine Hiester:
In this hands-on segment, Christine will guide us through an intimate exploration of one of our personal experiences of disenfranchised grief, utilizing a multi-media approach with creativity, contemplation, and compassion. She will profile a process with similar practices we can use to help others reveal and tend their unrecognized sorrow.
About Christine: She serves as adjunct faculty for The Metta Center, facilitating the "Translating Our Grief" course, and offering supervision for Spiritual Companions. As an interspiritual director and grief companion, supervisor, retreat leader and facilitator of creative practice, she believes in the power of deep listening to heal and restore the world, one sacred interaction at a time. Christine also serves on the faculty of Wellstreams, Columbus, Ohio, which offers training in spiritual direction.
In this hands-on segment, Christine will guide us through an intimate exploration of one of our personal experiences of disenfranchised grief, utilizing a multi-media approach with creativity, contemplation, and compassion. She will profile a process with similar practices we can use to help others reveal and tend their unrecognized sorrow.
About Christine: She serves as adjunct faculty for The Metta Center, facilitating the "Translating Our Grief" course, and offering supervision for Spiritual Companions. As an interspiritual director and grief companion, supervisor, retreat leader and facilitator of creative practice, she believes in the power of deep listening to heal and restore the world, one sacred interaction at a time. Christine also serves on the faculty of Wellstreams, Columbus, Ohio, which offers training in spiritual direction.
How This Training Will Benefit You
1. You will gain the necessary skills and confidence to know HOW to companion those who are experiencing disenfranchised grief.
2. You will glean insights into your personal experiences of disenfranchised grief and take steps to tend them with courage and grace.
3. You will receive compassionate support and care as you join with like-minded others to engage in personal and communal healing.
4. You will be inspired and emboldened to step forth with conviction and faith to companion others who may be suffering in their unproclaimed sorrow; uplifting hearts, tending the heart of the world.
2. You will glean insights into your personal experiences of disenfranchised grief and take steps to tend them with courage and grace.
3. You will receive compassionate support and care as you join with like-minded others to engage in personal and communal healing.
4. You will be inspired and emboldened to step forth with conviction and faith to companion others who may be suffering in their unproclaimed sorrow; uplifting hearts, tending the heart of the world.
How to RegisterCost: $75, includes recording and materials packet.1. Send us an email saying you would like to join us.
If you cannot attend the training on Jan. 29 in real time, register anyway! Your registration fee will enable you to receive the full training to complete on your own, all materials included. 2. You will receive an e-mail confirming your registration with further information about how to make your payment (via Pay Pal, Venmo, Zelle, or personal check).
If you have financial limitations, contact us for options. A few partial scholarships are available. 3. Check your e-mail confirming receipt of payment & your registration within 24 hrs. |
We look forward to seeing you January 29! We are grateful for your deep call to serve others as a spiritual friend and compassionate care provider. |