Sign up for our free Grief Tending for Collective Liberation Podcast Series →
Roots of Ritual
Grief Tending Foundations Facilitation Training
Grow your capacity to tend grief & trauma with confidence,
in both 1:1 and group spaces.
4 Month Professional Online Training Starts March 24th, 2026
Early Bird Pricing $3000 USD or 6 monthly payments of $500 USD
*Solidarity Pricing available for Black, Indigenous & People of Colour
Applications before February 13th for Early Bird Pricing
Space is Limited
You're already holding space for others
You’re a therapist, coach, bodyworker, yoga teacher, group facilitator – or you’ve walked through deep grief yourself and emerged with a calling to help others navigate their own dark woods.
people trust you naturally...but you can feel yourself holding back
Maybe you’re facilitating groups but keeping the intensity dialed down – afraid to really open the space because you’re not sure you can hold what might emerge.
Maybe you sense when someone is right at the edge of a breakthrough, but you don’t have the tools to help them cross that threshold safely.
Maybe you’re referring people out when deep grief arises because your training gave you frameworks for clinical support, wellness, or physiology – but you can tell something different is needed here. A different kind of medicine that only responds to the language of the soul.
You're good at what you do. But you know there's another level.
You want that unshakeable presence – where you can hold transformation without contracting, where you trust yourself to meet whatever arises.
You're ready for something deeper
You’d love to expand your skillset so you can support people to alchemize their pain and suffering into the medicine it can be.
You’d love to go beyond theory and fine-tune your level of presence, so you feel confident meeting the moment – no matter what arises.
You want real, relevant, tangible skills and structures you can actually use to meet the needs of the folks you’re here to help.
And you’d love to be held yourself – in a circle of other practitioners who aren’t afraid of being with grief.
Would you love to:
- Build your capacity to stay present when grief intensifies - learning to recognize the signs when someone is moving deeper, and developing somatic skills to hold space with confidence
- Tend your own ancestral and personal grief so it stops getting activated when you're holding space for others - learning to differentiate between what's yours and what's theirs
- Trust yourself to hold the full spectrum of human emotion - rage, despair, terror, ecstasy - without needing to fix, soothe, or manage it
- Understand the difference between grief and trauma - and know precisely how to work with each in the moment, reading the signals in someone's nervous system
- Build sustainable practices for staying grounded and vital while doing deep work - so you can serve from overflow rather than depletion
- Be held in a circle of practitioners who understand this work intimately - where you can bring your own grief, your questions, your edges, and be met with fierce compassion
- Bring these essential healing practices to your community - knowing you're part of a growing network restoring grief literacy for this and future generations
This training may be calling you if:
- You've watched someone's unprocessed grief show up as chronic pain, addiction, or relationship patterns they can't break - and you know there's deeper healing possible.
- You're skilled in your modality, but hit a ceiling when big grief enters the room.
- You know talk therapy and clinical frameworks have their limits - and you're hungry for the somatic, ritualized approaches to grief that your ancestors knew.
- You're tired of referring people out when the work gets deep - you want to be the one who can hold that transformational space.
- You sense you're being called to this work but don't know where to start - or you've tried to learn on your own and realized you need training & mentorship.
- You recognize that your own healing and learning to hold space for others are intertwined - and you're ready to walk both paths simultaneously in community.
- You believe grief tending is essential decolonization work - reclaiming our collective capacity to metabolize loss, pain and suffering and to heal together rather than in isolation.
In these times of collective upheaval, ecological crisis, and profound fracturing of our communities...
…the call for those who can hold space for grief has never been more urgent.
This 4 Month online journey guides you through the foundations of grief tending & Ritual Facilitation while honoUring the sacred & POWERFUL nature of DEEP RITUAL WORK
You’ll develop practical facilitation skills grounded in somatic awareness and ancestral wisdom, all while being held in a circle of fellow practitioners committed to bringing this essential healing back to their communities.
No travel required – just your willingness to step into this sacred work from wherever you call home.
From March through June 2026, you’ll receive 9x pre-recorded (video, transcripts & PDF notes) modules covering foundational grief tending & ritual facilitation skills.
We will gather for weekly live discussion & practice calls to deepen into the material you are learning via the prerecorded sessions. We will take one integration week per month, for a total of 10 live calls. This is an opportunity to receive direct mentoring & guidance, and to be inspired by the collective wisdom of our cohort of learners.
You will also receive access to our supportive community forum and our live community Grief & Praise sessions for grievers – a space where you can bring your own grief, as well as learn a powerful model for grief tending support groups.
We will work together to build your capacity to create grief tending spaces where pain can transform into medicine – where broken hearts become pathways to deeper connection.
This training has been carefully curated to bring the potency of grief tending & foundations of ritual facilitation work to you, no matter where in the world you reside.
Please note: I do not teach full-scale ‘Grief Ritual’ in this online training, because I believe that is training that must be done in person due to the intensity & power of ritual work. This training is a prerequisite for our Level 2 Grief Ritual Facilitation Training which will take place as an in-person/online combo in Autumn ’26/Spring ’27 – more details coming soon!
There is so much heartbreak in the world at this time, many days I ask myself, how can we go on?
But we must. 💔We must because here we are, and what is the alternative, really?
There is a saying in Arabic – In’shallah. It more or less translates as, “God willing.”
I love this, because it is a kind of prayer but also an acknowledgment that we are not, ultimately, in control of what happens.
Yes, we can affect change.
Yes, we can create meaningful things in the world, and we certainly are a part of co-creating our own realities.
Yet, ultimately, the big things, like how and when we and the ones we love the most will die or leave us, are simply not up to us.
But what we can do is keep showing up. This does not always mean having the right answer. Sometimes it means not knowing anything at all anymore.
Sometimes it means being open to the unknown in a completely new way.
Sometimes it means continuing to let our hearts break, rather than going numb.
As Francis Weller says, “So much depends on a broken heart…”
Trauma Informed Vs. Grief INformed
If you are working with vulnerable people in any sector, becoming a trauma-informed practitioner is so important. You will leave this training with an understanding of how to support both yourself and others to navigate trauma in a safe & truly helpful way.
And there is another less-spoken about part to this as well. Being trauma-informed doesn’t necessarily mean you are grief-informed. Being able to differentiate between when someone is grieving vs. in a trauma state is very important. This training will also give you that.
But what about you, and your energy levels and health? Many practitioners in the health industry – from counsellors, social workers, & addiction support workers to doctors, nurses, massage therapists, & intake staff – struggle with absorbing their clients’ pain, going home depleted, waking up thinking about cases, feeling the weight of others’ grief in their own bodies.
This training will teach you how to differentiate between your own and others’ energy & emotion so you can maintain deep joy, health & vitality while supporting others who are struggling in the dark woods of grief & trauma.
Our Journey will unfold Through THESE 10 Modules:
Entering the Dark Woods: The Six Gates of Grief
Develop a somatic map of grief's terrain in the poetic language of soul so you can recognize which "gate" someone is moving through and meet them there with precision. This Module is inspired by the work of Francis Weller (author of Wild Edge of Sorrow - 5 Gates of Grief) & Rachael Rice (6th Gate).
Ethics & Diversity: Building Inclusive, Culturally Responsive & Regenerative Ritual Spaces
Ethics & Diversity: Building Inclusive, Culturally Responsive & Regenerative Ritual Spaces: Learn to recognize the limits of trauma & grief work when we are living within systems of oppression that perpetuate harm, and how we as grief tenders can act as weavers of a different way. ***this is not about blaming or shaming, it's about BIG LOVE and BIG GROWTH! We put this module early on to create a foundation of deep safety for the rest of the training.
Understanding Grief, Complex Grief, and Trauma
Build the critical skill of differentiating grief from trauma - reading nervous system cues to know exactly what's needed in the moment.
Somatic Skills for Group & Ritual Spaces Part 1: Basic Somatic Skills
Learn foundational techniques for tracking your own nervous system and staying grounded while holding space for others.
Somatic Skills for Group & Ritual Spaces Part 2: Language & Inquiry for Somatic Deepening
Developing the language and inquiry skills to guide someone deeper into their own body's wisdom & unfolding.
Somatic Skills for Group & Ritual Spaces Part 3: Primal Energy & Movement
Understand how to recognize and support the body's natural impulses toward expression and release (foundational theory that prepares you for Level 2's deeper practice).
Story as Elder: Myth as Medicine for the Grieving Soul
Discover how to work with myth and metaphor as healing tools.
Tending the Inner Fire: Facilitator Preparation, Energy Clearing & Integration
Build sustainable practices for your own vitality - learning to differentiate your energy from others' & to ground and clear your own field - so you can serve from a place of wholeness & sovereignty rather than depletion & co-dependence.
Ethics & Relational Dynamics: Cultivating Spaces for True Well Being
Navigate power dynamics, boundaries, and ethical challenges with clarity and heart.
Planning Your Grief Support Circles: Birthing Your Unique Vision
Design and launch your own grief tending offering - whether that's circles, workshops, or integrating this work into your existing practice.
~ The Structure ~
This is not just a training—it’s an initiatory journey into creating alchemical spaces for suffering to transform into medicine. When you step into the Roots of Ritual Level 1 Training, you receive:
- 10 Live Group Mentoring & Discussion Circles that will transform how you understand and facilitate grief work. Live calls will be held Tuesdays at 11am + 4pm pacific time (two calls to serve our students in with different time zones/work schedules – choose the one that works best for you).
- Call dates are March 24 & 31, April 14, 21 & 28, May 12, 19 & 26, and June 9 & 16.
- 9 Pre-recorded Modules covering foundational principles of grief tending & ritual facilitation
- 1 Private Mentoring Session with Josea or Jane Spielman where we’ll hold space for your own process, your questions, and your emerging vision (additional 1:1 sessions available at $200 USD per hour)
- Lifetime Access to the Dark Woods Online Community Forum—a digital hearth where our community gathers
- The Return from the Underworld Course—12 additional modules of practices & tools that will help inform your learning
- The 2026 Roots of Ritual: Grief Tending Foundations Manual—written with both practical guidance and soul wisdom
- One Year Membership to our Dark Woods Grief Support Group, where you’ll both receive and observe the work in action
I have a vision of what's possible when more of us are equipped to tend grief in a deeply soulful way in our communities.
I see a world where pain isn’t pushed away or suppressed, but transmuted into gifts.
Where ritual creates a sense of belonging.
Where our broken hearts become pathways to deeper connection.
I dream of somatic-based grief tending spaces in every community, every organization, every gathering place. Places where we can unravel from the colonized mindsets that separate us from our emotions, from each other, from the Earth. Places where we remember that grief and trauma are not problems to be solved, but initiatory energies we need to honor and alchemize.
Calling in the Circle…
Is Your Soul Calling You to This Work?
Listen deeply, because this training will ask much of you. It will invite you to face your own ungrieved losses, to stretch beyond comfort, to step into leadership in ways that may feel frightening at first.
This is a mentorship-style training – not a passive consumption of information, but a mutual commitment to transformation.
As you step closer to your fullest potential as a leader and space holder, old wounds tied to your gifts may arise.
A Call to the
Brave
Due to the deep nature of this work, it isn’t for everyone. You will be asked to consistently reflect on your personal triggers and blind spots. Grief work – especially grief tending work – asks you to own and integrate all parts of self. Sometimes it isn’t fun, but it always leads to greater freedom & sovereignty.
This means having a high degree of ability to self-reflect and reach out for support if you are struggling with any of the material or context that is presented.
What you will learn can (and will most likely!) bring up unresolved grief & trauma in you, and this is a wonderful opportunity!
This training asks you to arrive with your grown-up pants on; asking for what you need and being courageous enough to receive support.
We are looking for people who are willing to feel the uncomfortable stuff and face difficult terrain with courage and heart.
It is strongly recommended that you plan to work with a trained Somatic Therapist for a minimum of 5-6 sessions throughout the training. If you aren’t already connected to someone who offers this work, we can offer recommendations.
The time is now and YOU are needed.
The level of suffering in the world is great at this time.
Systems are collapsing. Communities are fragmenting. Hearts are breaking in isolation.
And yet – when grief is properly tended, it becomes compost for new life, for vision, for the world we know is possible.
This is decolonization work at its core – reclaiming our right to feel, to break open, to be held by community rather than shamed for our vulnerability.
Are you ready to commit to what it takes to step into your gifts, your fullest presence + offering in the world?
Are you ready to go beyond your comfort zone to claim the life & work you most long for?
If something in you is trembling with both fear and recognition – that is a good sign.
The Dark Woods are calling.
Will you answer?
With fierce love and commitment to creating a world where grief has its rightful place,
Josea
APPLY HERE NOW
The Commitment:
The training includes 1:1 mentoring as well as many other supportive components, and is designed carefully to empower you to navigate these places with grace.
Yet still, you need to be prepared to walk through the gates of initiation that prepare you to hold powerful space for others. This is why registration for this training is also by application only.
The Early Bird Investment for this journey is $3,000 USD or 6 monthly payments of $500 USD.
(All applications received before February 13th will qualify for Early Bird pricing)
Regular price is $3,500 USD
*Solidarity Pricing available for Black, Indigenous & People of Colour
We all need support on the journey of stepping into our gifts as the leaders and co-creators of the world we envision for the future.
This training offers you a way to nurture your own leadership by being in a deeply supportive cohort of others who are walking the same path.
Are you ready to make a bold commitment to yourself and to this work?
To begin your application journey or to speak with me about whether this path is right for you, you can apply at the button below.
*BIPOC = We offer solidarity pricing to Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour to support diversity in our programs, to acknowledge the extra burden that POC may carry when learning & healing in mixed race spaces, & especially to support those who are working in underserved communities. Please understand that we reserve our scholarship spots for POC & folks working in underserved communities. Other extenuating circumstances may be considered. We also accept donations to our scholarship fund as this allows us to offer more scholarship spots! If you’d like to make a donation contact info@darkwoodsofgrief.com and let us know!
"Thanks Josea...
“I took this program in 2025, and honestly, it was really solid. It felt thoughtful, grounded, and well held. What I appreciated most was how embodied and practical it was. You’re not just learning about grief tending—you’re actually practicing the skills as you go, in small groups, which made a huge difference for me. By the end, I felt ready to use what I learned, not like I had to go home and figure it out on my own. As a somatic practitioner, I deeply appreciated the body-based approach to grief, as well as the dedicated session on ethics and scope of practice, which spoke to the integrity and care woven throughout the program. I would highly recommend this course to therapists, coaches, facilitators, and anyone who holds space for others in a world carrying so much grief.”
Tecca Thompson
therestedblackwoman.com
“As a Palestinian-Lebanese person living in the diaspora, the past two years have been incredibly painful, filled with deep loss, heartbreak, and ongoing grief. I came into this course carrying so much, and it met me exactly where I was. It gave me the space, permission, and tools to not only sit with other people’s griefs, but to be present with my own - to feel it, honour it, and begin to process it in a healthy way.
Throughout the course, I felt deeply held and supported by Josea and her team. They created an exceptional level of safety - emotional and relational - where I truly felt seen, cared for and where I witnessed the same care extended to everyone else in the space. As a therapist, I found this work profoundly enriching. The skills and tools I gained have already become an invaluable part of my practice. I am especially inspired by the way Josea weaves together grieving practices from different cultures and traditions, honouring their wisdom while always offering choice and autonomy - allowing us to meet ourselves and our clients ins hat feels most aligned and true.”
Daniela Abedrabbo
Clinical Counsellor
“This training opened something profound in both my learning and my heart. It gently but powerfully deepened the way I understand grief and the way I hold space for others within it. The tools shared felt grounded, compassionate, and truly usable, and the open conversations invited a level of honesty and connection that is rare in professional trainings. Josea has a remarkable gift for creating a space that feels safe, welcoming, and deeply human, while also courageously inviting us to turn toward our own experiences and relationships with grief. I left the training feeling more connected—to myself, to my work, and to the people I serve—and deeply grateful for an experience that will continue to shape my practice for years to come.”
Selina Stanford
"Thanks Josea...
“When I applied for the facilitators training, I was totally unsure of myself until I had a call with Josea. I felt so affirmed by her curiosity in my desire to explore the relationship between grief and conflict, and I am so grateful I followed my instincts and committed to the program. Josea is not only an approachable teacher and powerful space holder, she is also clearly committed to empowering everyone’s gifts to become a part of the learning experience. I learned so much about myself alongside growing skills and confidence in holding sacred space for grief. I am forever changed by the depth and connections this work has brought and continues to bring, thank you!!”
Natasha Edmunds
Nelson, BC, Facilitator & Mediator
“Josea is so caring, at a level I rarely experienced in my life from a teacher. The way she teaches and mentors is so empowering and she rocks at uplifting people in their gifts.
She also has the wonderful gift of listening to feedback and continuing to learn. Her whole leadership is inspiring. This training was a stepping stone in my life. It brought me so much: I learned a lot about grief and trauma but also about myself and others.
Being in a group has always been tricky for me and through this training and being in such a safe container, I got the opportunity to heal a lot. I am deeply and forever grateful for this.
I met allies and made friends that I know I can reach out if I need it, even if now, I am back on the other side of the ocean, back in France. Being together as participants in such a deep journey creates special bonds. I really appreciated how the training was offered in a way that respects our nervous systems. It's so consistent with what is taught. I never felt overwhelmed by too much learning or too much things to do, and yet it was also so rich.
I started grief work offerings right away after the training and continue to today, as I felt confident enough thanks to the support of the whole team and the practical skills I learned.
Forever, thank you to Josea & the Dark Woods Team”
Adeline Lefèbvre
France
“I came across Dark Woods of Grief during one of the major losses of my life. By then, I was not new to the world of grief—my own journey and initiation had begun many years earlier, and I was already working as a grief support facilitator at a local charity. I felt a deep pull to learn more about grief holding. I knew that what I already knew wasn’t enough. I had an inner desire to support more people and to become a better grief tender. What initially caught my attention was her focus on ritual, Indigenous teachings, and decolonization. Still, I carried some doubts—until I watched an Instagram video of her speaking out about Gaza and Palestinians. This was only a couple of months after the October attack, at a time when being openly pro-Palestinian was not yet the “acceptable” or popular stance. This helped me to know that she wasn’t indifferent, was willing to speak up and would understand my grief as an Iranian woman. I can truly say that this was one of the best decisions of my life. I began a journey that is still unfolding. Along the way, I found a community where I feel a sense of belonging and safety—something that is rare in this world, especially for an immigrant woman of colour.
I have met incredible people and learned how to be a better space holder, facilitator, and grief tender. And as life continues to bring ongoing collective and personal grief to the Iranian community, this training also offered me a safe and sacred space to tend to my own grief. I am grateful to every single member of this community!”
Sanaz Hosseini
Ontario, Canada
Meet Your Facilitators
Josea Tamira Crossley
primary mentor/teacher/guide
I have over 25 years of study and experience and have been facilitating somatic based grief & ritual work for the past 8 years. My work is grounded in training in Relational Somatic Therapy, Attachment Theory, Healing Sexual Trauma, Deep Nature Connection, Visionary Craniosacral therapy, SER, Shamanic Study, Holistic Nutrition, Meditation and Yoga.
I have trained with Francis Weller (author, Wild Edge of Sorrow), Mariah Moser (Relational Somatic Psychotherapy), Peter Levine (SE), Diane Poole Heller (DARe), Irene Lyon (SmartBodySmartMind), Elizabeth Claire Burr (CST, SER & Vijnana Yoga), Sonara Medicine Wolf & 8 Shields/Connection 1st Institute.
I believe firmly in the intertwined health of individual, community & ecosystem. As the world falls apart around us, we need each other more than ever. If you feel called, I am so looking forward to meeting you.
Jane Spielman
Co-mentor & Retreat Support
Jane worked as an educator for 50 years, supporting transformative, inquiry-based literacy for children from birth through teenagers to undergraduate and graduate teacher candidates. She helped build trauma and healing informed school programs all over New York City that got to the root of what was in the way of student’s learning. When her wife of over 3 decades fell ill, she began her study of caregiving and grief. Jane believes that learning how to grieve and face trauma in safe-enough spaces is essential to physical, emotional and spiritual life; and is absolutely essential in the process of discovering the gifts we have to offer the world.
Jane has studied with Zen and Tibetan Buddhist masters, hospice providers and is a graduating student in the Dark Woods Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitation Training. Her work is grounded in these lineages as well as Somatic tools, Internal Family Systems work & Reiki.
Jane is a Jewish anti-Zionist who believes we were born for these times, and a lifelong activist, with a focus on allyship in anti-colonist struggles. She is also a proud lesbian who has always represented and collaborated with other LGBTQ2S folx.
Jane has built her own active practice in Sow the Seeds of Healing to support individuals as well as groups in somatic grief and trauma work.