FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Questions, answered plainly.

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  • A natural, multifaceted response to loss — touching our emotional, physical, and spiritual lives. Not all grief involves death. It extends to transitions in relationships, identity, health, belonging, and our sense of the world. We treat grief as an ongoing relationship, not a problem to move through on a timeline.

  • We see grief and spiritual care as the same practice approached from different angles. To grieve well is a spiritual act. To tend the soul is always, in some form, a practice of grief. We're a secular community — you don't need to hold any particular belief to belong here. What "sacred" or "reverence" means is yours to define, in your own language and experience.

  • A bridge between the personal and collective, the ordinary and the sacred — helping us remember connection and carry what has been lived forward. Ritual doesn't explain grief. It gives it a shape outside your own body, so you are not the only container left holding it.

  • We bring grief into the body, not just the mind. Rather than fixing or containing what you feel, our practices help you stay present with grief as it moves — grounded, resourced, and in choice.

  • Liminal space is the terrain that follows a threshold crossing — the in-between that arrives after something has ended but before something new has begun. Grief is one of the most common and least acknowledged ways we enter liminal space. At The Grievery, we see our work as guidance through these thresholds: not rushing anyone out of the in-between, but learning to inhabit it with presence, community, and care.

  • The Grievery is a secular community. We hold space for people to grieve outside formal devotional settings. Nothing here requires belief, practice, or any particular relationship to spirituality.

  • No. This work is therapeutic, but it isn't therapy. Think of us as a complement to your support network — not a replacement. We don't provide medical or psychotherapeutic advice or treatment. If you're in a mental health crisis, please reach out to a licensed professional or call 988.

  • The Grievery is not a crisis service. Our gatherings and one-on-one sessions are not equipped to hold acute mental health emergencies — and we want to be honest about that, rather than ask you to bring something here that needs different support.

    If you're struggling right now and need someone to talk to, warmlines offer free, confidential peer support — conversation without intervention, available when things feel urgent but not immediately dangerous.

    Find a warmline near you at warmline.org

    If you're in immediate danger, please reach out to someone who can be physically present with you, contact a trusted person in your life, or go to your nearest emergency room.

MEMBERSHIPS & GATHERINGS

  • Membership gives you access to all three of our monthly grief gatherings — the Witnessed Grief Gathering (15th), the Queer Grief Gathering (1st), and the Ritual Grief Gathering (fourth Sunday) — on consistent dates each month. Additionally all members get discounted access to our workshops.

    • Month-to-month: $25/month · cancel anytime.

    • Annual: $200/year · two months free.

    • Annual + 1:1: $500/year · two 60-minute sessions with Rebecca included.

  • Yes. Members receive discounts on all current and future workshops as they're added to the calendar.

  • Yes, month-to-month memberships renew automatically each month. Annual memberships renew at the end of the year. You can cancel anytime via the Acuity scheduling system or by contacting us at community@thegrievery.com.

  • Each gathering is 60 minutes, held online via Zoom. We open with a gentle grounding practice, move through sharing and listening, and some reflective writing. We close with a poem and small ritual practice. Cameras and sharing are always optional. Nothing is required of you except your presence.

  • Once you've chosen your membership and completed payment, you'll receive a confirmation email with everything you need — including links to register for upcoming gatherings via our scheduling system. Be sure to add community@thegrievery.com to your contacts so it doesn't land in spam.

  • Both are grief-tending practices — they're just different in form, depth, and pace.

    Gatherings are a communal practice. You bring your grief into a shared space, witness others carrying theirs, and are witnessed in return. There's something that happens in a room of people grieving together that can't happen alone — a recognition, a belonging, a sense that this is a human experience, not just yours. Gatherings are also the most accessible entry point: membership starts at $25/month, making them a sustainable ongoing practice for most people.

    One-on-one support is a solo practice with a guide. It’s a dedicated space that's entirely yours. Sessions move at your pace, follow your particular grief, and go wherever you need them to go. This is where deeper spiritual development becomes possible: exploring your relationship to the sacred, to meaning, to what continues after loss as well as that which supports you through it, in a way that a group setting can't always hold. Sessions are $75–225 depending on length.

    Many people find the two complement each other naturally — the gathering holds the communal thread, and the one-on-one holds the depth. You don't have to choose one permanently. Start where feels right, and trust that.

  • That's okay — you're not required to attend every month. The gathering will be there the following month. If you need to cancel a specific session you've registered for, you can do so via the Acuity scheduling system or please let us know at least 24 hours ahead.

  • Group gatherings are a community practice — and community practice works best when there's enough ground beneath you to be present with others, not just with your own acute pain. If your loss is very recent, raw, or overwhelming, a one-on-one session is likely a better first step. It offers a dedicated, private space to simply arrive — without the relational complexity of a group, and without anything being asked of you except your own presence. Once you've found some footing, gatherings can become a powerful ongoing practice. There's no right timeline for when that becomes possible — you'll know.

  • Yes — all three are included in every membership tier. The General Grief Gathering, Queer Grief Gathering, and Ritual Grief Gathering are each open to members, and you can schedule to attend any or all each month. Please note: The Queer Grief Gathering is held specifically for 2SLGBTQIA+ folks; all others are welcome at the General and Ritual gatherings.

  • We believe grief needs a container. When the same people return month after month, something shifts — the room holds more, trust deepens, and the quality of what's possible together changes. Membership isn't about exclusivity; it's about building the kind of steady, recurring community that grief actually asks for.

    We tried a drop-in model, but ultimately noticed that it created friction at exactly the wrong moment. Our hope is that a membership model removes that friction. The gathering is always there.

  • We encourage it, to help everyone feel part of a shared space — but it's always optional.

ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT

  • Each session is shaped entirely around you. We open with a gentle grounding practice, then follow what's present — do a check-in, somatic practice, reflective writing, ritual, or simply being witnessed. Simply come as you are, and we’ll guide you through whatever shows up.

  • No. One-on-one grief support is relational accompaniment, not clinical treatment. It works well alongside therapy, not in place of it.

  • It isn't. One-on-one sessions are a space for grief accompaniment — relational, unhurried, and oriented toward presence rather than intervention. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, acute suicidal ideation, or an emergency, please reach out to someone who can be physically present with you, contact a trusted person in your life, or go to your nearest emergency room. Our sessions are most valuable when there's enough footing to attend to reflective, embodied work — even if that steadiness feels fragile or newly found.

    • Free 15-minute consultation (no commitment, just a conversation)

    • 30 minutes: $75

    • 60 minutes: $150

    • 90 minutes: $225

  • Yes, an annual membership with two private sessions is available for those who want a more guided space — community and 1:1 support. See membership options for more details.