Community Grief Ritual Facilitator Training:

September 4 – 7, 2025    Bay Area, California

This training is dedicated to graduating competent, confident, compassionate group facilitators, who desire to offer the Dagara-style Community Grief Rituals in their communities, in heart-centered service. 

If you feel a calling to facilitate or even assist a Community Grief Ritual, I would like to offer you an opportunity to develop your skill-base in our growing community of facilitators in the Bay Area of California.

I have offered the full Facilitator Training four times now, once in Israel, once in California and twice in Hawaii.

At the heart of the training is an…

• Exploration of one’s calling to the work
• Exploration of one’s own grief
• Exploration of one’s fears and expectations around leadership
• as well as, Development of leadership skills, individual and as a team

WHAT WE WILL EXPLORE IN THIS 4-DAY TRAINING:

• We will explore and discuss the nature and energetics of Grief from the lenses of Ecopsychology, Somatic Wisdom, and Emotional Intelligence. 
• We will work with the earth-based ritual template given to us by Malidoma and Sobonfu Some, which most of us understand as Community Grief Ritual. 
• On Day 2, students will experience a Community Grief Ritual as a participant.
• On Day 3, we will dive into facilitation skill and leadership ethics
• On Day 4, we will break down production and promotion aspects

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WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THIS TRAINING?

1. That student-leaders learn the workshop and ritual template of Community Grief Tending & Ritual work, and realize some ways it can be adapted for the needs of their communities
2. That student-leaders leave feeling confident in how they can bring this work to their communities
3. That student-leaders get to network with each other and create a family of ritual-leaders and assistants who can support each other in offering this work

The most important gift you can give, as a Grief Ritual facilitator and Council guide, is to be a respectful witness, a present heart and a good listener.

Here are the requirements to be able to lead Grief Ritual work. As you read these, please know that even if you don’t feel ready to step up as a main facilitator, you can still attend the training, because all leaders will need assistants!

The container (a team of 4 or more facilitators and assistants) for a Grief Tending process and the Grief Ritual must be Authentic, Honest, Inclusive, and Attuned (meaning, able to hold each person where they’re at).

Requirements of Character for the Main Facilitator of this work:

1. You have some sort of background in psychology, social work, counseling, heart/soul centered healing, hospice care, death doula, or grief counseling
2. You have experienced holding transformational group processes, such as personal growth workshops, spiritually oriented retreats, psychological group counseling, circle-keeping, ceremonial or ritual leadership, or you’ve facilitated circles for healing and transformation.
3. You have gone through your own experiences of loss, including death of a loved one, and have explored your grief, rather than dampened it down or denied it.
4. You can be unbiased, neutral and accepting of strongly expressed emotions without trying to fix, change or hide from them.
5. You are comfortable in delegating jobs and asking for support. You know it’s not about you, it’s about the healing of the collective heart and soul. You are humble, yet can also be directive and know how to invite rather than demand.

If you don’t feel ready to step up as the main facilitator of Grief Ritual, you can always assist.

1. As an assistant, you are available to take on jobs to support every part of the workshop and ritual day.
2. You are committed to the participants and show up for them authentically and with care.
3. You aren’t afraid of your own emotions and exemplify honoring the emotions.
4. You are able to “track” the room, and the different participants, to help the main facilitator know the feelings and needs in the group.
5. You are able to come early to set up and stay later to clean up.
6. You are available to help in pre-ritual preparation and gathering of materials, even finding a venue and drummers.
7. You are willing to take on small facilitation roles for different exercises offered during the morning workshop, before the afternoon ritual.

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DETAILS:

Tuition:  $1400.  

Three-month payment plan is available of $500/mo.

Location:   Bodega, California  (Private Residence)  

Day 2 Community Grief Ritual location in Sebastopol, CA

Meals:  Students bring bag lunch for Days 2, 3 and 4. Healthy snacks and beverages provided. Catered celebratory dinner together on Day 4!

SCHEDULE:

Thursday, Sept 4       2:00PM – 7:00PM   – Training Orientation

Friday, Sept 5           10:00AM – 6:00PM   – Community Grief Ritual 

Saturday, Sept 6      10:00AM – 6:00PM   – Training

Sunday, Sept 7          10:00AM – 5:00PM   – Training ,   5:00 – 6:30PM   – Catered Dinner 

Two Follow-up Classes (online, 3 hrs each):  To be scheduled by graduating class

REQUIREMENTS

1. Everyone interested in attending must fill out an application and submit it no later than 2 weeks before the training begins.
2. This training in the North Bay, north of San Francisco, California. Students are responsible for arriving to every day On-Time and staying through to the end each day.
3. Students bring bag lunch each day.