Who Am I?

I am a queer, cis-gendered woman of Northern European descent who is passionate about reclaiming grief, ritual and ancestral connection towards a deeply relational, kind and sustainable future. On my father's side, I am second generation to this unceded (stolen) Coast Salish land that I now reside. My people were mainly Germanic- spread out through current day Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, and migrating down thorough Poland and Ukraine. In the last generations, they were strongly rooted in the Mennonite faith, and their migrations across vast tracks of land and eventually as refugees to Canada were characteristic of facing generational religious persecution. On my mother's side, I am first generation to this land and of Scottish/Irish Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Germanic heritage. My people were long time colonial settlers to Turtle Island, the American mid-west, and were afforded many privileges in their new home (land, livelihood, safety) of which I am continuing to reconcile both the gifts and burdens of this reality, in my heart and in my ways of being and relating. My journey is ongoing in reviving my connection with my ancestors, reclaiming my inherited traditions and practices, and restoring right relationship with who I am and their legacy.

I am grateful to currently live on the traditional lands of the Pentlatch and K'omoks First Nations, central Vancouver Island, Westcoast of Canada, relearning how to tend to land nestled within Cottonwood, Poplar, Willow, Maple, Fir, alongside the seasonal movements of  Eagle, Owl, Rabbit, Raccoon, Hummingbird, Deer, Pileated Woodpecker, Heron, Salmon and Raven. You can find me walking the river, in my sit spot, hiking, riding my motorbike, being an aunty, friend, and partner with beloveds, playing piano, gardening, reading, writing, learning, and in contemplative practice.
For those who reside in my bones and have gifted me these moments, this breath;
whenever I am in the presence  of that which makes me heart swell and quicken,
may this also be an offering to you.

Education, Training, and Professional Background
I have been providing emotional, spiritual and ritual grief support, facilitation and training to individuals, families, and organizations since 2007. I also have an extensive and diverse professional background in organizational leadership, program design/delivery, group facilitation, policy and research, front-line support work, somatic and intuitive healing, and performance arts. I am published in both academic and public contexts. These experiences gift me with a holistic and systems approach to change and healing. View my professional CV here.

I have spent 18 years in both academic/professional study and self-directed study in the field of grief, trauma, and healing from many teachers of which I am grateful and the list is too long to name here. These are some the significant mentors and trainings that inform my approach:  


Profound gratitude to all the folks, organizations, communities, and teams who have trusted me with their pain, vulnerability, grief and healing process; they have all been significant teachers.

Becoming skillful at digesting our grief makes us a source of
reassurance and stability for the wider community.
Francis Weller

The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.
Joanna Macy

Why Grief? Why Ancestors?
To feel grief is to be deeply connected, and to be deeply connected is to remain tethered to an open heart, to love, to vulnerability and to fierce compassion. I believe these attributes are necessary medicine for the healing and repair so needed in our world.  The tumultuous and painful experiences that crack us open into the wild terrain of our hearts, also opens us to the wild terrain of the world. Whether our grief is personal, collective and/or ancestral, it is a form of intimacy which allows our hearts to stay open and responsive to our own needs and to the needs of our wider community. I see grief as one gateway to personal, cultural, and spiritual healing if tended to with care and dignity.

My training, professional experiences, and own healing through trauma and losses, has equipped me with a profound deepening in my sense of connection, and compassionate awareness of disconnection, to others and our world. It has also made me aware of how much grief I was carrying that was inherited through unresolved inter-generational hardships in my family and ancestral lineages. These experiences have deepened my insight and empathy for others in pain, and for inter-generational wounding and healing. I have always been very attuned to the suffering in our world, and at times in my life, have been overwhelmed and immobilized by global and ecological despair. I believe much of this collective pain and destruction (racism, sexism, colonialism, earth-as-commodity, to name a few) are in part a symptom of unresolved ancestral trauma, and by extension, a disconnection from a sense of belonging, place and relationship.

To harvest my experiences in a meaningful and life-affirming way, I need to act through its inspiration. This means providing healing rituals and grief support in personal, collective  and ancestral ways. I am called to be of service by holding spaces of deep connection - with ourselves, with each other, and with those who reside in the other-than-human world (animals, plants, trees, mountains, stone, weather, ancestors, Spirit etc).
The best decision is that all grief be turned into life-promoting
grief-based beauty and usefulness.
Martin Prechtel

Peace within, Peace between, Peace among.
Virginia Satir

My Philosophy
Loss has many forms - it can encompass any transition, death, unanticipated experience, or ending in our life.  It may encompass the over-whelming pain we feel for events that take place in our world, such as wars, oppression, racism, violence, famine and environmental destruction. It may be unmetabolized pain that has run for generations through our ancestral lineages, waiting to be tended and healed.

We all have the internal resources, wisdom and resilience to survive and grow through experiences of pain. We all need community to witness and help each other heal, because grief is relational.  And by community, I include not just our fellow humans, but also the wider field of relations we are a part of with the other-than-human beings. This means my approach to healing is also animist-informed.

I am passionate about creating more collective spaces to gain a healthy understanding of grief and to learn relational, holistic and ritual strategies for health and healing. This includes re-animating our ancestral practices, regardless of how recent or far gone we may have been disconnected from them. I believe it is through our shared experiences of pain and loss, and by providing spaces to share and connect about these things, that we can nourish a deep sense of well-being - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, both as individuals and as a collective global community. When we bring awareness to our personal relationship to loss and grief in our own lives, and how our ancestral inheritance informs this in both beautiful and challenging ways to be reconciled, we can then navigate through the world with others in a more empowered and compassionate way. To heal ourselves is to heal our world.
You cannot "fix" the world, but you can take part in its self-healing.
Healing wounded relationships within you and between you is integral to the healing of our world.
Joanna Macy
Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them,
how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us
into the soul and heart of another person.
Fritz William
Join my newsletter to be the first to know of program enrolments, new opportunities and resources, and to receive my writing reflections on grief and resiliency. I would love to stay connected with you this way, and I will only be in your inbox once every month or two.
I am grateful to be deepening into relationship with all beings living on the unceded lands of the Pentlatch and K'omoks First Nation.
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Website photos by Brodie Frehlich Photography and Shauna Janz