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Grief tending workshop
‘Grief has always been communal, always been shared and regarded as a sacred process. Too often in modern times, our grief becomes private, carrying an invisible mantle of shame, forcing our sorrow underground, hidden from the eyes that would offer healing.’
Francis Weller, psychotherapist and author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow
Many of us have had to carry our sorrows alone. Grief tending workshops are a beautiful opportunity to drop into and express feelings of grief that may be hidden from others and perhaps even ourselves.
Many indigenous cultures consider community grief tending essential to their individual and communal health and we have come to agree with them. We therefore offer this workshop to contribute to the health of us all, in these challenging times. The workshop draws on grief tending practices from Sobonfu Somé, Francis Weller, Sophy Banks, Sarah Pletts and Azul Thomé. We have deep gratitude for their dedication to this work.
What happens at a grief tending workshop?
Our time together will include:
- Group (max 12 participants) agreements to support safety and trust
- Exercises and practices to help participants connect with their grief
- Sharing in small groups, leading to a larger grief tending ceremony
- Identifying resources and support
- Integration and closing together
You may have grief for a person, a lost opportunity, a pet, your health, the state of our world or something else. It may be showing up as sadness, anger, numbness, fear, disgust, guilt, shame or in numerous other ways. All is welcome and no grief is too small.
It is important to be aware that grief tending with others can be a powerful emotional experience, so we require participants to commit to having support in place both before and after the workshop.
Please be aware that this workshop may not be suitable if you are very recently bereaved or currently experiencing severe mental ill-health.
Booking: For further information and booking, please email wildgrief@protonmail.com
Facilitators - Linda Parker and Siân Jones
Linda Parker is a BACP accredited psychotherapist, nature-based practitioner and experienced group facilitator with over twenty years of experience working in prisons, psychiatric hospitals, educational settings and private practice. In 2018 during a powerful wilderness retreat in the Pyrenees, Linda’s overwhelming grief for the natural world surfaced and was beautifully tended to by experienced ecopsychology practitioners.
This inspired her to undertake ecopsychology training with Natural Academy and to commence a grief tending apprenticeship with Frances Weller and Azul Thomé. Her grief tending practice is informed by the work of Francis Weller, Sobonfu Somé, Sophy Banks, Sarah Pletts and Azul Thomé. Linda started holding community grief tending spaces with Siân Jones in 2019. She is now regaining her health, having been debilitated by long Covid in 2020. These days Linda paces her working life, practicing radical self-care. She enjoys spending time with beloved felines and finds nature connections and safe places to release grief, greatly supporting her well-being.
Siân Jones is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, ecopsychologist and experienced group facilitator. She lives between the Downs and the sea in Sussex. Her mother’s death when Siân was a child started a deep, ongoing relationship with her own grief and gave her lived experience of the impact of not having spaces where grief is welcomed.
It was as she deepened into her ecopsychology training that she was awakened to the need for and power of grief tending ceremonies. In 2019 Linda and Siân started working together to create grief tending workshops in a variety of settings. Inspired by the writings of Francis Weller she undertook an online course with him in 2020. Siân is a storyteller, sea dipper and allotmenteer, which together with her relationship with her friends, family and the natural world brings her joy in difficult times.
Linda Parker is a BACP accredited psychotherapist, nature-based practitioner and experienced group facilitator with over twenty years’ experience working in prisons, psychiatric hospitals, educational settings and private practice.