Empowered through Grief: the Membership
Be held, for 12 months, in a space that is specific to partner loss, meant to help you understand and cope with the manifestations of grief & trauma in your life in the after. Together, we explore the complexity of widowhood.
Partner loss reorganizes your entire world. In the context of a loss so vast & profound, what does healing even mean? And if your grief is also traumatic, how do you heal from the things that alter the very fabric of who you are?
This is one of the questions that we will explore & grapple with over the next 12 months. Join me & other experts in the field of grief and post-traumatic growth and let’s begin the journey of making sense of this huge loss together.
Over the next year, you will be gently guided and supported as you begin to make sense of the far-reaching impacts of grief and trauma on your body and being in the world.
You will deepen your relationship to your self and learn to relate to your loss in a new & more empowering way. Together, we will take the steps towards integration. We will explore what it means to create a meaningful life in the “after” where post-traumatic growth and a spiritual bond with your loved one contribute to a greater sense of resilience.
And the best part is that you will get to have these profound conversations alongside other widows who deeply understand.
Grief work is slow work & it’s helpful to remember that grief is not an emergency. Your grief might evolve & shift alongside you forever. This is why I offer this space over a whole year, so that we can move slow & take our time. Join us for a year of workshops & sharing circles meant to help you break out of a sense of isolation & cope with the changes that come with losing a life partner.
About me.
Hi! I’m Marie, a certified Grief Coach and Death Doula who walks the path of healing with women who have suffered a profound loss. I specialize in creating brave spaces for women to be seen, heard and witnessed in the fullness of their experience of loss. Spaces where women get to deepen their relationship to themselves in a way that promotes deep & lasting healing.
My approach is based on the assumption that you are the expert of your own grief and my work focuses on guiding you back home to yourself so that you can find meaning in your life in the “after”. Having lost my partner to cancer, my guidance and coaching comes from both education and personal experience which allows me to deeply relate to my client’s experience of grief and loss. I am the founder of Empowered Through Grief, a coaching practice and community that provides a brave space for healing and post-traumatic growth for women grieving all types of loss.
My life’s work is to help normalize grief by engaging in difficult conversations surrounding death and dying. I believe that by getting acquainted with death, we learn so much about life itself.
In my work, I have had the privilege of supporting hundreds of women through 1:1 coaching and group experiences. My work is trauma informed and respectful of your religious & spiritual beliefs.
One year. Three themes.
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Working with traumatic grief & processing emotions beyond the 5 stages.
The first 6 months of our journey will be dedicated to deeply understanding the impacts of grief & trauma on your body and your ways of being in the world. The workshops and sharing circles will allow you to understand yourself better, to gather tools to reduce the symptoms of trauma that might be disrupting your daily life & help you process the difficult emotions of grief in a healthy way. Here, you begin to take back your sense of control in the face of an event that might have felt completely out of your control.
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Rebuilding a connection to self and getting clear on who you are now.
For 3 months we will be working on rebuilding a solid sense of self. You have been altered by this loss and this time will allow you to reconnect to your heart, to practice real self care and to get clear on your values, your boundaries & needs for your life in the “after”
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Finding meaning & connecting to your loved one on the other side.
The final 3 months are meant for you to explore a continuing emotional & spiritual bond with your loved one. Death ends a life but not a relationship. Through this perspective, we will explore signs & spirituality, we will find meaning in your loved one’s life & legacy.
12 months of support to hold & inspire through the complexity of losing a life partner.
Too many widows feel they must navigate their immense pain alone. We live in a culture where death is denied, avoided or ignored and where grief is constantly minimized. Healing is also deeply misunderstood and the timeline deemed acceptable by our culture is often vastly different than the timeline we really need in order to find any sense of integration after a loss.
That is why I do the work that I do. Because there are too few spaces where grief can be held, witnessed, expressed and processed in a way that honours both YOU and your loved one on the other side.
My intention is for you to gain a sense of control & greater agency in your process of healing & integration.
It is my hope that together, we can create a little more peace within your experience of partner loss.
Empowered through Grief: the Membership
A 12 month workshop series & community meant to gently guide you and empower you as you begin to make sense of & rebuild after partner loss.
Every month, I will invite you to participate in workshops offered by both myself & other AMAZING experts (who are also widows) in the field of grief & trauma recovery.
In addition, I will host a series of sharing circles around specific themes that will provide you with an opportunity to be in community with other widows navigating similar challenges. We will get to learn from each other and grow together in a way that provides a sense of community in the face of shattering loss. Especially in grief, relationships are so deeply healing.
We will also have our very own book club!
We will be reading 2 books together and I will hold discussions where we will get to think deeply about the realities of widowhood together.
When you join, you get to be a part of:
11 workshops + sharing circles with Marie to deepen your understanding of grief + be in community with others
3 workshops specific to traumatic grief with Amelia Bradaric, to help you understand how trauma impacts the body and empower you towards a sense of agency + recovery
3 workshops with amazing guest facilitators:
Friendship Loss with Mira Simone (@newmoonmira)
Joy as a Coping Skill with Dana Frost (@forcedjoyproject)
Cultivating Resilience with Karen Sutton (@widowcoach)
Meet your guest facilitators:
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Amelia Bradaric
REGISTERED THERAPEUTIC COUNSELLOR
Amelia is a licensed counsellor specializing in grief, trauma and post traumatic growth.
She works with clients 1:1 to process and integrate their experience while stepping forward on a new path - day by day.
Grief and trauma are embodied experiences. Amelia takes an integrative mind-body approach with clients by working with them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
As someone who has experienced sudden loss, she understands that when someone is
in pain, they do not need to be fixed or pushed to get better, faster. They need someone to come up alongside them and provide support.
In honor of her late husband, Amelia founded “The Igor (Iggy) Bradaric Foundation” which provides scholarships to grievers while they navigate their path forward in the wake of loss.
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Mira Simone
GRIEF COACH & OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
Mira Simone is a widow, mom, grief coach, grief advocate, and writer.
She is also a registered mental health occupational therapist in Ontario, Canada with a decade of experience leading groups and providing 1:1 support.
Under the umbrella of her company New Moon Mira, she aims to provide a safe, non-judgemental community for her fellow grievers. New Moon Mira offers grief support programs that balance the darkness with the light, making space for you to find who you are becoming.
Mira has published essays and speaks publicly about the grief experience. She is writing a memoir with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
She can be found on instagram @newmoonmira.
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Dana Frost
GRIEF ADVOCATE & WRITER
Dana Frost is Grief Advocate, Cancer Survivor, & Writer. She is the founder of both the Forced Joy Project, an organization that provides support and resources to those experiencing loss, and the Forced Joy Club, an online community to help better navigate the complexities of grief. In addition, she runs retreats for both widows and young adults with cancer.
When Dana’s not forcing joy, she’s hiking with her pup or taking year-round daily dips in Lake Michigan. She is a big believer in sharing our stories - of both grief and joy - and an even bigger believer in kitchen dance parties.
You can follow her story @forcedjoyproject or at www.forcedjoyproject.com.
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Karen Sutton
GRIEF COACH FOR WIDOWS
Karen is the UK's first Widow Coach.
Through group coaching programmes, retreats and day events Karen provides emotional and practical support, educating, coaching and mentoring, anyone dealing with the loss of a life partner, wherever they are in their grieving journey.
Through her own experiences with loss Karen understands how difficult it is trying to navigate your way through these traumatic life events, and wants to help people re-imagine and re-build a full and vibrant life after loss.
Karen also hosts The Widow Podcast, the UK's first podcast specifically for widows and surviving partners.
Our schedule
February
Welcome call with Marie:
When: Tuesday February 13th at 12PM EST
Workshop #1: Going beyond the 5 stages & how to be a companion to ourselves in grief with Marie
When: Tuesday February 27th at 4PM EST
March
Workshop #2: Trauma & Recovery with Amelia Bradaric
When: Monday March 11th at 12PM ESTWorkshop #3: Self care in the context of widowhood with Marie
When: Tuesday March 26th at 1PM EST
April
Sharing circle #1: Introducing our partners
When: Tuesday April 16th at 4PM EST
May
Workshop #4: Friendship loss in widowhood with Mira Simone
When: Wednesday May 29th at 1PM EST
June
Workshop #5: Let’s talk about SUPPORT with Marie (how to feel more supported by the humans in our lives)
When: Tuesday June 11th at 4PM EST
Workshop #6: Trauma & the Body with Amelia Bradaric
When: Monday June 24th at 12PM EST
July
Workshop #7: Cultivating resilience in life after loss with Karen Sutton
When: Wednesday July 24th at 12PM EST
August
Workshop #8: Joy as a coping skill with Dana Frost
When: Wednesday August 7th at 4PM EST
September
Workshop #9: Rediscovering YOU; an exploration of values & boundaries after partner loss with Marie
When: Tuesday September 3rd at 12PM EST
Workshop #10: Post-Traumatic Growth with Amelia Bradaric
When: Monday September 16th at 12PM EST
October
Sharing Circle #2: Book Club Discussion with Marie (BOOK: True Refuge)
When: Tuesday October 1st at 4PM EST
November
Workshop #11: Continuing Bonds and how to cultivate a new relationship with our loved one on the other side with Marie
When: Tuesday November 5th at 12PM EST
Workshop #12: Going deeper on continuing bonds with Shelby May Intuitive Medium
When: Tuesday November 13th at 7PM EST
December
Workshop #13: Planning ahead for the holidays with Marie
When: Wednesday December 4th at 12PM EST
January
Sharing Circle #3: Book Club Discussion with Marie (BOOK: Signs)
When: Monday January 13th at 1PM EST
Celebration closing call & intention setting for 2025 with Marie
When: Monday January 27th at 1PM EST
Let’s spend one year together in community exploring this grief that so few people actually understand.
FAQs
When are the workshops held?
Please consult the schedule for the date and time of all workshops & sharing circles.
Where are the sessions being held?
Everything will take place on ZOOM and you will be receiving the link via the email a few days before the workshop or sharing circle. Make sure to provide a valid email when you sign up.
Will there be a replay if I can’t attend live?
YES. Every workshop is recorded and uploaded to your own membership space where you can watch and re-watch for up to one year after the program ends.
Can I cancel my membership and stop making monthly payments?
If after the month of the program, you are not satisfied, please email empoweredthroughlife@gmail.com for a refund.
Beyond March 11th 2024, we can no longer offer refunds or cancellations. By signing up, you are making a commitment to yourself. Please make sure that this is an aligned decision for you at this time.
Is this specific to partner loss?
Yes.
Will this help me process trauma?
Although this is not a replacement for 1:1 trauma support or therapy, we will be holding workshops with a grief & trauma expert which will give you greater insight into how to work with traumatic grief. All members are responsible for taking care of their mental health and seeking support with the right professional for their specific needs outside of the program. This program is meant to give you tools and to help you move through your grief with more empowerment but this is not a replacement for 1:1 grief counselling or therapy. It can be a wonderful addition to your self care toolbox and can be used in conjunction with therapy.