What to expect

At The Grief Well we believe that everyone has the innate capacity to hold space for others. Our Grief Stories Facilitator Training is a slow and embodied six-month journey designed to help you cultivate the skills to create a solid container for others to connect with their grief. Through a deep exploration of the narratives we hold about loss, you'll learn how to invite others to deepen their kinship with grief and create opportunities for grief to be witnessed.

  • A deepened kinship with grief through your own exploration of loss supported by Grief Stories Kinship Journal

  • Exploring personal ritual practices to support you to feel grounded and connected to your heart

  • Tips on hosting Grief Stories gatherings online and in person

  • Guidance on how to create a supportive container for people to share

  • Guidance on how to facilitate group conversations around grief

  • Embodiment practices to support your well being before, during, and after holding space for others

  • Support with creating a personalized 8 week syllabus for grief gatherings inspired by Grief Stories 8 weeks of gathering

  • Access to additional grief resources

  • Guidance on how to hold stand along grief circles

  • Increased grief competency, which is very different than grief literacy, through exploring your own losses, this will allow you to serve with your wounds, not from them.

Pricing options

We want this offering to be barrier-free. If you feel called to join, but the tuition is holding you back, please get in touch. You can reach us at hello@thegriefwell.ca

Guides

Tracy Chalmers

Tracy Chalmers, Founder of Endwell, is an End of Life Doula, founding member of the End of Life Doula Association of Canada, End of Life Educator at Douglas College, Grief Educator and Tender at The Grief Well, a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Hospice Volunteer, and the Author of The Nature of the Journey. She lives on British Columbia's Coast Salish land known as the North Shore. It is Tracy’s hope to nudge people to remember what it means to be human, through encouraging engagement with the entire experience from joy to sorrow and in life and death. This is how we are made whole, this is how we heal.

Willow Meili

Guide

Willow is a co-founder of The Grief Well, an End of Life Doula, and a volunteer with Victoria Hospice in their Bereavement Services department. Willow works with folks in a variety of orientations including 1:1 grief companioning, small group facilitation, and grief literacy education. Willow holds the lived experience of what it is to witness what can happen when we are not given the recognition, witnessing, and permission to grieve. Her early life was shaped by unprocessed grief due to a lineage of profound loss. It is these tender roots that have led Willow down a journey of exploration, continuous healing, and a kinship with grief. Willow lives with her chosen family on the stolen traditional lands and Coast Salish territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən/Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) and W̱SÁNEĆ ((SȾÁUTW/ Tsawout, W̱JOȽEȽP/ Tsartlip, BOḰEĆEN/Pauquachin, WSIḴEM/ Tseycum, MÁLEXEȽ/ Malahat) First Nations, in what is now called Victoria B.C.

Tracy Chalmers

Tracy Chalmers, Founder of Endwell, is an End of Life Doula, founding member of the End of Life Doula Association of Canada, End of Life Educator at Douglas College, Grief Educator and Tender at The Grief Well, a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Hospice Volunteer, and the Author of The Nature of the Journey. She lives on British Columbia's Coast Salish land known as the North Shore. It is Tracy’s hope to nudge people to remember what it means to be human, through encouraging engagement with the entire experience from joy to sorrow and in life and death. This is how we are made whole, this is how we heal.

Willow Meili

Guide

Willow is a co-founder of The Grief Well, an End of Life Doula, and a volunteer with Victoria Hospice in their Bereavement Services department. Willow works with folks in a variety of orientations including 1:1 grief companioning, small group facilitation, and grief literacy education. Willow holds the lived experience of what it is to witness what can happen when we are not given the recognition, witnessing, and permission to grieve. Her early life was shaped by unprocessed grief due to a lineage of profound loss. It is these tender roots that have led Willow down a journey of exploration, continuous healing, and a kinship with grief. Willow lives with her chosen family on the stolen traditional lands and Coast Salish territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən/Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) and W̱SÁNEĆ ((SȾÁUTW/ Tsawout, W̱JOȽEȽP/ Tsartlip, BOḰEĆEN/Pauquachin, WSIḴEM/ Tseycum, MÁLEXEȽ/ Malahat) First Nations, in what is now called Victoria B.C.

Tracy Chalmers

Tracy Chalmers, Founder of Endwell, is an End of Life Doula, founding member of the End of Life Doula Association of Canada, End of Life Educator at Douglas College, Grief Educator and Tender at The Grief Well, a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Hospice Volunteer, and the Author of The Nature of the Journey. She lives on British Columbia's Coast Salish land known as the North Shore. It is Tracy’s hope to nudge people to remember what it means to be human, through encouraging engagement with the entire experience from joy to sorrow and in life and death. This is how we are made whole, this is how we heal.

Willow Meili

Guide

Willow is a co-founder of The Grief Well, an End of Life Doula, and a volunteer with Victoria Hospice in their Bereavement Services department. Willow works with folks in a variety of orientations including 1:1 grief companioning, small group facilitation, and grief literacy education. Willow holds the lived experience of what it is to witness what can happen when we are not given the recognition, witnessing, and permission to grieve. Her early life was shaped by unprocessed grief due to a lineage of profound loss. It is these tender roots that have led Willow down a journey of exploration, continuous healing, and a kinship with grief. Willow lives with her chosen family on the stolen traditional lands and Coast Salish territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən/Lekwungen (Songhees and Esquimalt) and W̱SÁNEĆ ((SȾÁUTW/ Tsawout, W̱JOȽEȽP/ Tsartlip, BOḰEĆEN/Pauquachin, WSIḴEM/ Tseycum, MÁLEXEȽ/ Malahat) First Nations, in what is now called Victoria B.C.

Social proof: testimonials

“I recently completed the Grief Stories Facilitator Training and it was truly an incredible experience. The program was well-organized, informative, and engaging. The facilitators, Tracy and Willow were knowledgeable and supportive, creating a safe and welcoming space for sharing and learning. Throughout the training, I felt empowered to explore my own experiences with grief and learn valuable tools for supporting others in their grief journey. The content was insightful and thought-provoking, and I left feeling equipped and inspired to make a positive impact in my community. I highly recommend the Grief Stories Facilitator Training to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of grief and provide meaningful support to those who are grieving. Thank you to the facilitators for a truly transformative experience. ”

Carmen Smith

“”

“As a facilitator with two decades of experience in 1:1 and group training, I can confidently say that this program has profoundly transformed me. The insights and growth I experienced during the training were truly eye-opening, leaving a lasting impact on both my personal journey through grief and my role as a teacher and facilitator. From the moment I stepped into the first day, I was not only engaged but also fulfilled in ways I never anticipated. If you're looking to deepen your own understanding of grief or to better support others in their journeys, I wholeheartedly recommend the Grief Well Training. It’s a life-changing experience that cracked my heart open!”

Catherine

“The Grief Stories Facilitator Training Course is not a one off or upon completion leave you with the sense of having learned all you need to know. This is but an introduction to a journey whereby you are given an opportunity to learn a whole new skill set when it comes to listening and empathizing. This course like few I have taken leaves you with the desire to put into practice all that you will have learned to, to start your journey as a Grief Stories Facilitator. ”

Paul Evered

“I recently completed the Grief Stories Facilitator Training and it was truly an incredible experience. The program was well-organized, informative, and engaging. The facilitators, Tracy and Willow were knowledgeable and supportive, creating a safe and welcoming space for sharing and learning. Throughout the training, I felt empowered to explore my own experiences with grief and learn valuable tools for supporting others in their grief journey. The content was insightful and thought-provoking, and I left feeling equipped and inspired to make a positive impact in my community. I highly recommend the Grief Stories Facilitator Training to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of grief and provide meaningful support to those who are grieving. Thank you to the facilitators for a truly transformative experience. ”

Carmen Smith

“”

“As a facilitator with two decades of experience in 1:1 and group training, I can confidently say that this program has profoundly transformed me. The insights and growth I experienced during the training were truly eye-opening, leaving a lasting impact on both my personal journey through grief and my role as a teacher and facilitator. From the moment I stepped into the first day, I was not only engaged but also fulfilled in ways I never anticipated. If you're looking to deepen your own understanding of grief or to better support others in their journeys, I wholeheartedly recommend the Grief Well Training. It’s a life-changing experience that cracked my heart open!”

Catherine

“The Grief Stories Facilitator Training Course is not a one off or upon completion leave you with the sense of having learned all you need to know. This is but an introduction to a journey whereby you are given an opportunity to learn a whole new skill set when it comes to listening and empathizing. This course like few I have taken leaves you with the desire to put into practice all that you will have learned to, to start your journey as a Grief Stories Facilitator. ”

Paul Evered

Grief Stories Kinship Journal

The Grief Stories guided study is supported by Grief Stories Kinship Journal. Grief Stories Kinship journal acknowledges that grief affects us physically, cognitively, socially, and spiritually. To support this notion, this journal includes poetry, quotes, kinship practices, grief rituals, herbal supports, and writing prompts. There is ample space for reflections and expression of the experience of loss.