Dark Woods

Grief Support Group

Live Zoom Support Group
Where Grief in All Forms is Welcome

$40-$125/month - Pay What You Can

What's included in your monthly subscription?

Click below to learn more about what you get when you sign up:

4x month Grief & Praise Sessions (Monday evenings & Wednesday mornings)

Grief & Praise sessions are primarily process-based – including writing practices, somatic/embodied practices, group as well as partner/trio work, and movement practices
If you miss a live session, they will be recorded so you can listen and do the practices on your own or with a friend
Grief & Praise sessions are facilitated by our facilitation team who have all worked deeply with their own grief and are trained & mentored by Josea. Keep scrolling to find our team members’ bios!
Everyone Welcome Sessions occur on the first and third Monday of the month from 5-7pm pacific time and the second and forth Wednesday of the month from 10am-noon pacific time

1x month Meditation for Grief Session

Josea’s long-time mentor, Elizabeth Claire Burr, offers a 90 minute Meditation for Nervous System Regulation & Emotional Healing once a month
In this session she teaches powerful skills & practices that directly support the grieving nervous system
Sessions occur on the second Monday of the month from 5:30 to 7pm Pacific Time

Access to our virtual hearth, Dark Woods of Grief Online Community Forum

Here is where you can connect, ask for support and receive compassionate witnessing from community members who are deeply committed to this work
Other perks within the community include music playlists for movement practices, weekly gratitude practices, writing prompts and reflections, and poetry

For Black or Brown folks, you also get access to our 1x monthly BIPOC Only Group

A monthly session held exclusively for people of the Global Majority aka Black, Indigenous & People of Colour
We recognize the diversity of experiences within this field and welcome you — all (and exclusively) People of Colour
Sessions are held by BIPOC facilitators who have all worked deeply with their own grief and are trained & mentored by Josea. Keep scrolling to find our team members’ bios!
Sessions occur on the first Sunday of the month from 10am-noon pacific time

For men, you also get access to 2x monthly Men's Only Grief Support Group

Bi-weekly sessions held exclusively for men
Sessions are facilitated by Davis Briscoe (Josea’s husband!), a Somatic Counsellor with over 20 years of experience helping individuals heal, grow and connect with their inner strength
Sessions occur on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month from 5-7pm pacific time

You can attend as many or as little sessions as you’d like. Either way, you will receive great benefit! Most people choose to join 2-3 or more sessions per month.

This is a group of people who are deeply committed to the work of transforming their pain into medicine. If you feel called, I hope you will join us!

Come as you are

$40-$125 USD/month – Pay What You Can – Minimum commitment is 3 months.
After that stay as long as you like or cancel anytime.

Please scroll below to see our refund policy.

Click Here to See Upcoming Meeting Dates

Dates of Fall 2026 Grief & Praise Sessions:

Monday evenings @ 5-7pm pacific time

October 5th & 19th

November 2nd & 16th

December 7th & 28th

Wednesday mornings @ 10am-noon pacific time

October 14th & 28th

November 11th & 25th

December 9th & 23rd

Dates of Fall 2026 BIPOC Only Grief & Praise Sessions:

Sunday mornings @10am-noon pacific time

October 5th

November 8th

December 6th

Dates of Fall 2026 Men’s Only Grief & Praise Sessions:

Wednesday evenings @5-7pm pacific time

October 14th & 28th

November 11th & 25th

December 9th

Dates of Fall 2026 Meditation for Nervous System Regulation & Emotional Healing Sessions:

Monday evenings @ 5:30-7pm pacific time

October 12th

November 9th

December 14th

IMPORTANT:
No Way But Through: 4 Real Life Skills for Navigating Grief & Trauma is a Prerequisite to join this group.

NO REFUNDS – MINIMUM 3 MONTH COMMITMENT – HERE’S WHY:

The Dark Woods Grief Support group has an initial 3 month minimum commitment. After that you can cancel and opt-out anytime simply by sending us an email a minimum of 7 days before your next payment.

We also want you to make that kind of commitment to your own healing. Be willing to give it a fair go – this kind of deep work doesn’t transform us overnight – it is a long slow process, and it should be that way.

Sometimes when you’re in the depths of despair it can feel like you will never have a different experience. You will, but it won’t happen overnight. You need to give it time and commitment, just like anything we want in life.

Another reason we don’t offer refunds is because we offer a wonderful way for you to get a good idea of what we are all about prior to joining via a prerequisite intro session, No Way But Through. If you have not done this workshop yet, please sign up HERE: https://darkwoodsofgrief.com/nwbt/

Grief, honoured in community, helps us to find the beauty in our common humanity.

We see and feel in our bones that we are truly not alone.

This builds resilience and increases our capacity to be with the harder emotions.

Being witnessed in a compassionate and mutually vulnerable group increases our ability to have deep compassion for ourselves and others.

When we share and witness each other’s grief in community, we transform in a profound way that simply is not possible in isolation or in 1:1 therapy.

From Wounds to Gifts…

What if instead of carrying around the weight of grief & trauma as a burden, you could learn to transform it into the gifts you are here to give in this lifetime?

What if the pain, suffering and hardship you have experienced could be transmuted into a sacred offering for the world and the future generations?

This isn’t something we can force or rush, and we can’t approach it in a goal oriented way. The way of the soul is non-linear and a winding, spiralling path.

collective wounds

…Such as systemic racism, isolation, ancestral trauma and colonial structural trauma must be healed collectively, together, not in isolation.

Personal grief, when witnessed & supported in community, slowly metabolizes into something that is easier to carry on our own.

This process-based group is intended as a container to touch deeply into emotions that society has rejected – emotions that are rooted in love and our sense of justice for self, community, culture and planet.

All forms of grief are welcome – this includes personal loss and trauma, both ‘minor’ and devastating, as well more transpersonal/collective grief. All is welcome.

Why grieve in Community?

I believe firmly in the intertwined health of individual, community & ecosystem. As the world falls apart around us, we need each other now more than ever. We need to hold and be held by each other through our grief, so we can bring back resilience and vibrant health to ourselves, each other and our earth.

“This is an incredible, wonderfully safe group you'VE CREATED - I'm so GRATEFUL TO BE HERE."

—Hilarie Heinz, Counsellor

feeling the

Feels

When we make big life changes, even if we’re excited about moving in new directions, and becoming more of who we are, we need to grieve the person, life, and experiences that we’re leaving behind.

Not to mention the grief of the world around us, seemingly not ours, yet still felt by our soul, our body, and our hearts as we are interconnected with all things.

If we are sensitive and attuned to the reality of our current life on this beautiful planet, there will be grief alongside our love and gratitude for life.

And it may seem counter-intuitive, but the more we can make space for grief, the more capacity we will also have for JOY.

As a grief-worker and therapist, I probably laugh more than most people I know. And there’s a reason for this.

The more we allow our “e-motion” to move in a skilled way, the more capacity we build in our nervous system to experience the full range of emotions – joy, anger, gratitude, sorrow, fear, courage, hopelessness and the creative tension of pure potentiality…we gain access to a full range of feeling our experience.

With every loss, every life change and transition, every personal evolution, every deep connection, there is an emotional process that needs to unfold.

"I feel more peaceful since joining this group and doing the work. I can still wake up in the early morning hours and fall into old anxiety patterns that in the past led me to deep despair. Lately I have been more willing to seek out a resource to help me stay present with my feelings and allow it to move in its own time."

— Susan, Community Member

THIS IS FOR YOU IF YOU:

Have experienced a major loss or trauma recently or in the past and want more understanding around how to process it
Want to understand how depression, burn out, numbness, overwhelm, reactivity or unexplained waves of emotion can be connected to old unprocessed grief and trauma
Feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world around climate change, environmental destruction, systemic racism, genocide and other global issues
Want to know what it means to release old grief & fears that are preventing you from experiencing full intimacy & connection in your current relationships because of past hurt
Want to understand more about how old ancestral trauma and grief could be affecting your life now and how you can help both yourself as well as future generations

"I'm learning so very much in my work with this group. This week I allowed myself to really feel and process some of the anger I've never felt comfortable with in regards to the deaths of my brother (30yrs) and mother (3years). I haven't cried so much or so often over their deaths, as I have this past month. that's a lot of years of emotional repression. i can't explain how wonderful it feels to be witnessed in this process and held in a safe container no matter what comes to the surface. Thank you for this work. It is changing my life."

~Angela, Website Designer

"I have noticed I am not afraid of my grief or other perceived “ negative “ emotions that I just seemed to have always manipulated the universe in order to avoid feeling, fear , pain sadness etc . it’s all in play now . as i develop gratitude and experience an ongoing fellowship with my grief I notice I no longer avoid circumstances that I normally would stay away from in fear of activating shame and or feelings I am afraid of . I just seem to fear forward now and I am not so concerned about how I will feel about something. my feelings don’t scare me so much anymore thus I am letting go of a lot of control."

~Stephen, Community Member

We all walk through the dark woods of grief & trauma - but doing it alone can be unbearable.

Most of us aren’t raised with an intimate understanding of grief.

We can go through our days barely noticing that it’s there, under the surface of things.

Other days, we find it hitting us like a tidal wave and taking us down to the ground.

Sometimes we don’t know we’re stuck in grief. We can be feeling heartbreak, anger, resentment, stuckness, depression, and even anxiety and not realize that this is simply a form of unprocessed emotion.

In our culture, this is only really discussed when someone dies.

In this group, we aim to welcome & support ALL types of grief, including but not limited to major loss & trauma.

"As soon as I opened the app and experienced the exchanges, videos, and prompts, I felt safe. This is a newish experience for me. It validates that I'm on my path and as lost, uncomfortable, and weary, I feel at times. I am doing, creating and becoming who and how to be in this physical body. The tears come easy for me, this has been true for most of my life. I honor them now. I'm grateful for this community."

—Kimberley, Community Member

When the world falls apart around us, we need each other more than ever….

One of the most beautiful things that I see happen over and over again in this group is the de-shamifying of each person’s grief experience.

Because society teaches us to isolate and keep our difficult emotions hidden, and show up with a smile on our faces, we often think that no one else around us has the kind of feelings we do.

We carry around not only our grief, but also a story that says, “I am alone, I am different, I am secretly broken or weird.”

Within the context of authentic sharing that happens in this group, this long carried and very heavy story dissolves, and we realize we are all in fact, at our core, exactly the same.

Human. Broken. Beautiful. Alive.

And our wounds are, in fact, deeply connected with the very unique gifts we bring to the world.

Grieving is healing.

With every trauma held in our nervous system, there will come grief as we heal. As we heal, we grieve for the parts of ourselves that may have suffered for a very long time until now when they have an opportunity to have a different experience.

Grief is innate in the process of healing

"It has been incredibly helpful and valuable to learn new tools to experience and allow my anger and grief. These emotions have felt stuck for what feels like forever, and through the practices we've learned and done together, I can feel that energy leaving my body in healthy and appropriate ways. It's such a relief."

—chanda

Meet the Team

We are committed to helping people access the innate wisdom of their physical & emotional bodies as a doorway to deeper awakening and freedom. We believe that while 1:1 therapy can be profound and life changing, there are things that can only be healed in the presence of community/group work.

We are a diverse team of humans and are committed to honoring the full spectrum of racial, cultural & gender identity. We recognize that we are learning and will not be perfect, but that our intention is to create a safe space where all who wish to do this work are welcome!

founder, Mentor & Team Lead

Josea Tamira Crossley

For over 20 years, I’ve been working with grief & trauma. Through practices that work with the nervous system & rewiring the brain learned through my studies in Somatic Therapy, Attachment Theory, Deep Nature Connection, Craniosacral therapy, Shamanic Study, Tibetan Buddhism and Yoga, I’ve learned to support people to completely transform how they experience the world and themselves. As a survivor of severe childhood abuse, learning these skills was a matter of life and death.

In terms of walking through the dark woods and returning with gifts, I am a living, breathing example, and this work is my offering to you.

It is my mission to create spaces in this world where people can experience enough safety & belonging, and can gain enough skillfulness to be able to heal.

The body does the rest.

I am deeply and forever grateful to my mentors Elizabeth Claire Burr, Sonara Medicine Wolf and Ellie Sielern, and for my teachers Mariah Moser (Opening to Grace Relational Somatic Psychotherapy), Peter Levine & Diane Poole Heller, Irene Lyon, Jon Young, and for the strong influence of Joanna Macy, Sobonfu Somé, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Martin Prechtel, Gabor Mate & Robert Moss.

I currently live, respectfully, as an uninvited guest in the seaside mountain town of qathet, BC, on the traditional territory of the Tla’amin people.

Meditation Session Facilitator

Elizabeth Claire Burr

Elizabeth has studied the Vajrayana and Nature of Mind teachings within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition with Mingyur Rinpoche since 2008 and has taken the Bodhisattva vow, grounding her work in wisdom, compassion, awareness and embodied presence. Her path expresses itself through meditation and yoga teaching, craniosacral and somatic therapy, founding and stewarding a healing arts centre, kirtan leadership, doula work, mothering, mentoring, and sacred partnership.

She is an experience-based, IFS-informed somatic and craniosacral therapist with over 25 years of direct practice, offering trauma informed, client led sessions that work at the subtle body level to address root causes. Her background includes over 30 years of advanced yoga study (Iyengar, Vijnana, Essential Somatics), 25 years of Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice, Upledger craniosacral training, Somato-Emotional Release, and more than 20 years of one-to-one mentorship with craniosacral therapist Brian Finnie.

Everyone welcome Grief support group facilitators

Jane Spielman

Jane worked as an educator for 50 years, but is still deeply excited by and involved in focusing on creating educational spaces where students are immersed in rich natural environments that encourage their own questions and ways of knowing to drive curriculum. 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.

Check out Jane’s work here!

KIMBER FINNEy

Kimber is a naturally intuitive healer who follows her gut in everything she does. She has been studying healing, grief & death in depth since her own initiation into grief in the summer of 2023. In December of that year, she found Dark Woods of Grief and attended a retreat with us. She knew she had found her calling. She is a graduating student of the 2024 Dark Woods Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitation Training and is also a Certified Death Doula through Village Deathcare.

Kimber has a huge heart and brings a depth of humor & hard-earned wisdom to everything she touches. She currently resides in Bend, Oregon on the traditional territory of the Wasqu, Wana Kana (Warm Springs), and Northern Piute peoples.

chanda Turner

Hi, I’m Chanda. I live in Inuvik, NWT in the Gwich’in and Inuvialuit Settlement Regions, and am happiest spending time out on the land. I am a lover of skyscapes, good food, candles, kitchen witching, boats, skidoos, intimate friendships, astrology, twinkle lights, and dogs.

I am yearning to rebuild our deep connections to other beings, human and non-human, and experience the vastness of our universe. I am learning to use movement, acceptance, and compassion to heal and discover myself after years of masking and living in trauma response patterns. I have recently completed the Dark Woods Grief Tending and Ritual Facilitation Training, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to hold space and offer support to others on their own healing journeys.

Other hats I wear include: Step-mom, Dog Mom, Marine Protected Area Senior Biologist, Witch, Consultant, Disrupter, Neurospicy Human, Partner, Daughter, Crafter, and Sister. My current day job(s) are in wildlife co-management with the Inuvialuit and Gwich’in peoples, who have signed land claims that guarantee their involvement in wildlife management. I work to move the processes of co-management closer to true, equal power-sharing and consideration of Traditional Knowledge and ways of knowing in what are still very colonial and science-based practices. This work, as well as where I live and who I love, has moved me to challenge my own biases and inherent beliefs from growing up in western settler culture and to encourage others to do the same.

Tisha Washington

I come to this work with an open heart, honoring the many ways people navigate grief, transition, and change. Born on the bayou, I have been shaped by listening closely–to people, to nature, and to what unfolds when words are lost. My own life has been marked by love and loss, and through those experiences I’ve discovered a deep well of inner resource—a refuge of calm and steadiness that I return to again and again.

For the past fifteen years, I have shared deep companionship with animals in my role as a professional dog walker. It was through years of walking—in every season and all kinds of weather—that this path began to form. Observing the natural shifts in nature taught me to recognize and accept the natural changes within myself—meeting them with an open heart rather than judgment. My support is grounded in practical tools that help you remain steady as things shift—both within you and around you—always guided by mindfulness and compassion.

I hold a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Since graduating, my path has unfolded through a rich blend of training and lived experience. This includes case management and support group facilitation for people living with HIV/AIDS at Whitman-Walker Clinic in Northern Virginia, completing a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, and, most recently, training as a Grief Tender with Josea Tamira Crossley through the Dark Woods of Grief: Roots and Ritual program.

I believe grief wants us to listen deeply. Alone, this can feel too heavy a burden to carry. In community, the load is shared and something begins to soften. Little by little, shifts occur and space opens for light to come in.

I am available for walking and in-person sessions in the state of Maryland. For more information, you can contact me at sweetboholife@gmail.com

Adeline LefeBvre

Adeline is a wild woman and lover of nature and big adventures. She came to Canada in 2018 to complete the Wisdom of the Earth Wilderness School Immersion program. Through this training she became a mentor for children in deep nature connection and discovered that grieving is necessarily a part of healing and coming into deeper connection with nature, each other and ourselves.

Upon returning to her home in France, she lost her dear mother. The depth of this grief led her return to the path of grief work and to Canada to complete the 2024 Dark Woods Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitation Training. She has held grief circles both online and in person, and is currently home living in France.

Ali Bowden

Ali lives on the traditional and unceded lands of the Quw’utsun people, in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, with deep gratitude for this place and its caretakers.

Her path has been profoundly shaped by the death of her beloved partner by suicide three years ago —an unchosen initiation into grief that transformed both her life and her work. Through her own healing journey, she came to understand that trusting in life again required deep presence, courage, and self-compassion. She is grateful to the many teachers whose work has supported her along the way, including Francis Weller, Megan Devine, Joanne Cacciatore, David Kessler, Linda Nicholls, Josea and the Dark Woods community, teachings and training.

Along the way, Ali discovered the healing power of creativity, particularly writing, which led her to create her Substack, And Then You Were Gone.

Ali now honours grief as sacred territory—one that invites spiritual opening, deepens self-compassion, and reminds us of the importance of community. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and a graduate of the ’25 Roots of Ritual Grief Tending Foundations Training. She also assists with grief retreats and the Come Alive program at Haven on Gabriola Island, and is passionate abut supporting health & wellbeing across the physical, emotional, and spiritual realms.

She brings warmth, grounded presence, humour, and thoughtful insight into her work, and is deeply honoured to support others as they find their own way through grief and back into life.

Susan Adamson

Susan brings a unique depth to grief work, drawing from decades as a Registered Nurse specializing in newborn intensive care and lactation, combined with advanced training in pre and perinatal somatic psychology, energy medicine, and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy.

Her own grief journey began in 2023 with the dissolution of her 33-year marriage, followed six months later by the sudden death of her ex-husband from long-term alcohol abuse. Navigating this complex terrain of loss, Susan discovered The Dark Woods of Grief, where weekly somatic support groups offered her the tools and witnessing she desperately needed. After attending the 2025 winter Grief Retreat, she knew she wanted better tools to help others find their way through grief. She completed the Dark Woods of Grief Facilitator Training in 2025.

Susan’s work sits at a powerful intersection: she understands that how we navigate grief is deeply rooted in our earliest experiences. For years, she has helped new mothers and babies heal from challenging births and medical interventions, using somatic tools to create safety for overwhelmed nervous systems. When babies are given space to tell their birth stories—to express frustration, rage, or sadness—they develop resilient coping mechanisms that shape how they’ll process trauma and loss throughout their lives.

This foundational understanding informs Susan’s grief facilitation work. She knows that when we experience traumatic loss later in life, those early imprinted patterns resurface. Just as newborns need safe, attuned holding to process their birth trauma, grieving adults need safety and security in their holding and witnessing. Susan creates that compassionate container where grief stories can be shared, emotions can move through the body, and the whole self can be honored through the pain of sorrow.

Susan is passionate about bringing her somatic expertise to those walking the often lonely and misunderstood path of grief, offering the same deep presence and nervous system attunement she has long provided to the newest and most vulnerable among us.

BIPOC grief support group facilitators

SaNaz Hosseini

Having navigated her own path through grief many times, Sanaz is passionate about helping others find their way. As an Iranian woman and an immigrant, she has faced multiple forms of loss, and what is coined as disenfranchised grief, often without access to resources or community support. This journey taught her how isolating grief can feel and the importance of processing it. Over the years, she has learned to channel her grief and recognize its transformative power. Now, she is committed to helping others navigate their own losses.

Professionally, she has a diverse background that complements her role as a grief facilitator. She is a product manager with degrees in electrical and biomedical engineering, and management. She has mentored young professionals and volunteered for a suicide helpline, both of which have strengthened her ability to support people during difficult times. Her passion for storytelling has helped her connect with people on a deeper level and understand the power of shared experiences in healing.

As a facilitator, she strives to create a compassionate and supportive space for others, grounded in empathy and enriched by professional and cultural insights.

She teaches yoga and meditation and is a graduate of the 2024 Dark Woods Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitation Training. She also currently serves as a peer grief facilitator in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.

Tecca Thompson

Tecca Thompson is a Grief Tender and Somatic Practitioner who offers steady, compassionate presence for those navigating grief.

With particular care for Black women, she understands grief as layered—personal, ancestral, cultural, and historical—and honours the many ways it lives in the body.

Tecca creates spaces where there is no pressure to explain, fix, or move on. Rooted in ritual, nervous system awareness, and rest, her approach invites grief to be witnessed at its own pace, with tenderness, choice, and care.

She is a graduate of the 2025 Cohort of the Dark Woods Roots of Ritual Foundations of Grief Tending Facilitation Training.

Selina stanford

I am a grief tender and trained death doula who has been walking alongside individuals and communities in grief work for over five years. My approach is rooted in a traditional African understanding of grief as a communal experience—one that calls us into relationship, witnessing, and collective care rather than isolation.

I hold grief as a sacred portal—an opening into deeper self-awareness, connection, and alignment with our life’s purpose and work. My practice centers on creating spaces where grief can be expressed fully and authentically, whether through wailing circles, communal grief rituals, or somatic practices that honor the body as a vessel for healing.

I am here to hold space for others with compassion and presence, supporting the unfolding of grief as both a personal and collective journey. Through this work, I aim to nurture environments where people feel seen, held, and empowered to move with their grief in ways that are meaningful and transformative.

Audrey Williams

Audrey T. Williams is an award-winning author, published poet, ancestral lineage healer, and liberation literary artist who came to grief work the way many of us do: through the sudden loss of her father, and now through the slow, sacred tending and anticipatory grief related to her 89-year-old mother’s eldercare. She has navigated various forms of grief over the past 25 years, including: medical malpractice and health inequity resulting in death of her father, a forced medical “miscarriage”, divorce, ancestral/intergenerational grief, current social-cultural/political issues, and climate grief. Creative expression through the literary arts became her tool for staying present with what is still living, and it is working. That transformation is what she shares.

A Southern Black Auntie with Indo-Burmese heritage and a doctoral student in depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Audrey facilitates workshops in Somatic Depth Poetry, a chakra-based somatic method that uses poems as medicine for embodied healing. She understands grief as ancestral, layered in the land and individual’s lineage, and she trusts the writing hand to know things the thinking mind has not yet named. In her circles, grief is not a problem to solve. Perhaps it is compost, just waiting to create what comes next.

Audrey holds an MFA in creative writing and is a certified Usui Reiki Master Teacher. Her training also includes:

Poetry as a Tool for Wellness with The Institute for Poetic Medicine
Narrative Medicine at Columbia University
Various trainings with The Transformative Language Arts Network

She is the founder of Ancestral Futures: Literary Arts for Liberation. Her first grief poetry chapbook, “Attending Sorrow: Poems and writing prompts for living with Grief” is forthcoming this autumn.

She is a graduate of the 2026 Cohort of the Level 1 Dark Woods Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitation Training.

Raven Wright

Greetings, my name is Raven. I acknowledge Turtle Island & my ancestral bloodline to where the grass plains meet the foothills in a hollow clearing in the wood & marsh lands – places otherwise known in both Europe & Central Canada.

In this Autumn of my lifespan I’ve been blessed with motherhood, having born my greatest earth-side teacher ~ a rainbow indigo child. In this season of preparation I’ve become a bereaved daughter & sister, a retired social work counsellor & foster parent. My dedication & gratitude now rests in motherhood, creative & wellness practices.

As a niizh manitoag ~ two-spirit woman, I honour my inherited shamanic duality. Humbly practicing these gifts as an inspirited guide weaving the medicines in the dreamspace. Abled as an intuitive ceremonial ritualist, I gently assist those who desire to navigate liminal thresholds for alchemical revelations & healing.

In the winter of my life I inspire to serve as a death & grief steward; as a humble outpost in both life & death’s sacred transitions. It is a precious honour to be entrusted to enhearten the rites of passage for the bereaved.

Blessings for all relations ~ yours in service ~*RaVen*~

Hana Masud

Hana is a Chicago-based researcher and lecturer committed to dismantling Western hegemonic narratives. Her work critiques the colonial logic that marginalizes oppressed peoples, challenging binary thinking through bold, decolonial scholarship.

Hana’s writing unapologetically reclaims cultural narratives and amplifies resistance, centering liberation and justice at the heart of her academic praxis.

Men's grief support group facilitator

Davis briscoe

Davis is a Somatic Counsellor with over 20 years of experience helping individuals heal, grow and reconnect with their inner strength.

His path to becoming a counsellor was shaped by personal challenges. At 30, he survived a fall from a cliff that forced him to confront unresolved pain from his past. This life-altering experience inspired him to commit to somatic counselling, grief work and immersive retreats, leading to profound personal transformation.

His philosophy is grounded in these core principles:

Self-awareness is key to personal growth.
Most challenges can be resolved or effectively managed.
Even in hardship, there are opportunities for meaning and self-discovery.

In his private practice, he creates a safe, supportive space to gently uncover and process deep-seated patterns that have been holding you back, and ultimately to rediscover your resilience and develop tools to navigate life’s challenges with authenticity and confidence.

Somatic work is very different than talk-based therapy, and works with body & nervous system awareness to build resilience and increase well-being.

Learn more about Davis at davisbriscoe.com

Dark woods admin team members

Madison Steadwell

Madison Steadwell is a heartful creature who lives on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe peoples of Fort William First Nation, now known as Thunder Bay. They have completed two years of study at Wisdom of the Earth Wilderness School, and are also a graduating student of both Year 1 and 2 of the Dark Woods Grief Tending & Ritual Facilitation Training. She is currently studying Social Work at Lakehead University.

Madison is queer and autistic, and is on her journey of “breaking the masks” and becoming more of who she already is, her natural self! Being extremely sensitive, they recognize the “wound as gift” in their autism oh so very well. She is walking the path of allowing herself to exist just as she is, through embodiment and courage.

Polly Orr

Polly Orr (they/them) grew up on Treaty 7 Territory, spent seven years learning permaculture and farming on the unceded territories of the Tsawout, Quw’utsun, and Stz’uminus Nations, and now lives on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən Peoples, including the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

Committed to decolonization, creative expression, and community growth, Polly’s grief work has become a central pillar that helps them meet the world and the living beings in it with more grace, presence, and compassion.

Watch our Team meet & greet below!

What will you gain?

“To speak of sorrow works upon it, moves it from its crouched place barring the way to and from the soul’s hall.”

—Denise Levertov

What will be let go of?

You may (gently) release along the way:

"I highly recommend this group if you are crawling around the edges or smack in the middle of the grief stew! It's deepening a process that was already years long and well facilitated, Yet it all feels brand new And safe."

~jane, dark woods Grief Support group participant

"I'm learning so very much in my work with this group. This week I allowed myself to really feel and process some of the anger I've never felt comfortable with in regards to the deaths of my brother (30yrs) and mother (3years). I haven't cried so much or so often over their deaths as I have this past month. that's a lot of years of emotional repression. i can't explain how wonderful it feels to be witnessed in this process and held in a safe container no matter what comes to the surface. Thank you for this work. It is changing my life."

~ash, dark woods Grief Support group participant

IMPORTANT:
No Way But Through: 4 Real Life Skills for Navigating Grief & Trauma is a Prerequisite to join Dark Woods Grief Support Group

You're not alone anymore.

FAQ:

Can I join any time?

YES!

What happens when I join?

As soon as you sign up you will receive a link to our online community forum where you will be able to dive in immediately to a supportive group setting.

When are the live group Zoom sessions?

We have up to 8 Zoom sessions a month, including:

4x month Grief & Praise Sessions
- Monday sessions occur on the first and third Monday of the month from 5-7pm pacific time
- Wednesday sessions occur on the second and forth Wednesday of the month from 10am-noon pacific time
1x month Meditation Session
- Occurs on the second Monday of the month from 5:30-7pm pacific time
1x month BIPOC Only Grief & Praise Session
- Occurs on the first Sunday of the month from 10am-noon pacific time
2x month Men’s Only Grief & Praise Sessions
- Occurs on the second & forth Wednesday of the month from 5-7pm pacific time

Are sessions recorded?

Yes, each session is recorded. If you miss a session, you can go back and listen to it later and do the practices on your own or with a friend.

Can I cancel my subscription anytime?

This is an ongoing monthly subscription group with a minimum of 3 months commitment. After 3 months you can cancel and opt-out anytime simply by sending us an email a minimum of 7 days before your next payment. It does take time to really land in the work together and start to feel the ripple effect this will have in your life. This work is not a “quick fix.” In fact this isn’t a ‘fix’ thing at all – it’s a reconditioning of our societal training to try to ‘fix’ ourselves and each other, and instead to recognize that the real healing happens when we stop trying to fix things and allow our souls to simply rest together, witnessing each other and simply being in attuned and compassionate presence together.

What if I can’t attend a live session?

If you miss a live session, they will be recorded so you can listen and do the practices on your own or with a friend if you choose too. There is no expectation that you attend all the sessions. Most people choose to come to 2-3 sessions per month.

What is the time commitment?

You can attend as many sessions or as few as you want each month.

Can I get a refund if I decide to cancel?

NO REFUNDS – MINIMUM 3 MONTH COMMITMENT – HERE’S WHY:

Dark Woods Grief Support Group is an ongoing membership group with an initial 3 month minimum commitment. After that you can cancel and opt-out anytime simply by sending us an email a minimum of 7 days before your next payment.

It’s important to us to create a safe, supportive container for this deep work. To help create that, when the core group welcomes someone new in, we want to know you are committed to at least journey a few months with us. We also want you to make that kind of commitment to your own healing. Be willing to give it a fair go – this kind of deep work doesn’t transform us overnight – it is a long slow process, and it should be that way. Sometimes when we’re in the depths of despair it can feel like we will never have a different experience. You will, but it won’t happen overnight. You need to give it time and commitment, just like anything we want in life.

Another reason we don’t offer refunds is because we offer a wonderful way for you to experience our Grief Support Group prior to joining via a prerequisite intro session, No Way But Through. If you have not yet attended one of these, please sign up HERE: https://wordpress-1311305-6059077.cloudwaysapps.com/nwbt

Questions? Email info @ darkwoodsofgrief.com

The dark woods of grief can be frightening...

…to you if you haven’t had someone to lead you through and show you the lay of the land.

We can get stuck in the darkness of our grief, eyes-closed, terrified to open them because we don’t know what could be lurking in the shadows. And yet what is there doesn’t change, eyes open or closed.

But how do we gather the strength to open our eyes and face where we are? It helps enormously to know that we are not alone, and that we have some guidance from one who has traversed these woods before.

That’s what this group is offering. A hand to hold. Someone to lead you through the dark woods. A community to walk with you, so that you know you aren’t alone.

"Thanks Josea...

...for your wisdom, curiosity, care and attention during the course. It was a privilege and a gift to be in circle with everyone. I cherished the time we spent in vulnerable presence with each other. I learned much about holding the space for grief and being held by community, ancestors and the earth.”

~ Ahava Shira

"The work I did with Josea Tamira Crossley in 2015 and 2016 literally changed my life and was part of what saved my life from the brink of serious breakdown. Josea is hands down my go expert on how grief and trauma are held in the body and how as a community we can come together for deep healing. I have never met someone so committed to living the truth of what they teach. Truly trauma informed in her approach, if grief is even remotely something you're dealing with (even collective grief) working with Josea is necessary work! Big claim i know. I stand by it."