A Two-Part Clinical Training
Tending Grief in Clinical Practice
A deep dive into Francis Weller’s model of grief — for clinicians who want to meet sorrow with more skill, more steadiness, and more soul.
Virtual & Live · CEUs Available · Future dates to be announced
Grief shows up in the clinical room constantly — not always named as grief, not always recognized as such, but present nonetheless. In the numbness. In the chronic low-grade exhaustion. In the way a client describes their body, their relationships, their life, as though loss is simply the weather they move through.
Most clinicians were not trained to work with grief directly. We were trained to assess, treat, and resolve. But grief doesn’t move on that kind of timeline, and the frameworks most of us inherited rarely have language for sorrow that lives in the body — or for the grief that belongs not to one person, but to an entire community or lineage.
The work of Francis Weller shifted something in my practice. His model offered language for what I had long been witnessing in clients, and a structure that honored grief’s depth without rushing toward its resolution.
This two-part training is an invitation to explore that framework together — not only as a theoretical model, but as a way of understanding what it means to accompany people through loss with greater skill, steadiness, and presence.
~ Hilary Kinavey, MS, LPC
Co-Founder, Center for Body Trust · Grief Ritual Facilitator in the lineage of Francis Weller
Sound Familiar?
You might be asking some of these questions
- How do I sit with a client’s grief without trying to fix or move it?
- How do I include grief that isn’t just personal, when it’s woven into culture, history, and collective loss?
- Why does so much of what I’m seeing in my practice feel like unprocessed loss, even when no one is naming it that way?
- How do I take care of myself when I’m holding this much sorrow — and when does my own grief need tending?
What We Cover
01. The Five Gates of Grief
A foundational overview of Weller’s model — each gate as an entry point into grief that most of us have been culturally trained to avoid.
02. Grief Lives in the Body
How sorrow shows up somatically, and what it means to recognize grief’s body-based presentations in clinical work.
03. The Culture That Makes Us Afraid to Grieve
Why grief is so often suppressed — and how systems of power, productivity culture, and white supremacy shape who gets to mourn, and how.
04. Collective & Ancestral Grief
What it means to carry grief that isn’t only yours — inherited loss, communal sorrow, and the grief of historical trauma.
05. Applying This in Your Practice
Clinical strategies and language for supporting clients through grief — across presenting concerns, modalities, and treatment contexts.
06. Tending the Clinician
Countertransference, vicarious grief, and how to recognize when your own sorrow needs care. Sustainable practice from the inside out.
Two Sessions
What Happens Each Day
Each session is 3.5 hours with time for didactic teaching, experiential practice, and open discussion. You can attend both sessions live, or access recordings if something comes up.
✦ Session One
Foundations of Grief
- Introduction to Weller’s Five Gates framework
- Why grief gets stuck — culturally and clinically
- Grief in the body: somatic and relational dimensions
- What unprocessed grief looks like in presenting concerns
- Experiential practice and reflection
✦ Session Two
Grief in Practice
- Applying the Five Gates framework clinically
- Collective, ancestral, and disenfranchised grief
- Supporting clients through grief ritual and process
- Countertransference and practitioner self-care
- Case-based discussion and Q&A
What You Receive
Everything included with your registration:
Live Access to Both Sessions
Future dates TBA
Session Recordings
Available for 30 days after each session
Clinical CEUs Approved by NASW Oregon
(Live attendance only)
Curated Resource List
Weller’s work and related grief scholarship
Clinical Frameworks & Language
Handouts and tools to bring back to your practice
Community of Practice
Live conversation with fellow clinicians navigating grief work
Who This Is For
Designed for helping professionals who want to go deeper.
Therapists & Counselors
LPCs, LCSWs, MFTs, psychologists — anyone holding grief in the clinical relationship
Dietitians & Body Workers
Providers whose clients bring grief about food, bodies, and health
Coaches & Facilitators
Those supporting people through transitions, loss, and life change
Community Care Workers
Anyone holding grief in a professional or organizational context
Healthcare Providers
Nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals navigating loss with patients
Grief Companions
Those drawn to grief work who want a theoretical framework to deepen practice
No prior training needed in Body Trust or Francis Weller’s work to attend.
You just need to be willing to show up as your human self.
Pricing
Both sessions are included at every price point. Choose the tier that reflects your context and capacity.
All tiers include:
✓ Live access to both sessions
✓ Session recordings (30-day access)
✓ CEUs for live attendance
✓ Handouts, resource list, and clinical frameworks
We believe people should not be turned away for lack of funds. If you are unable to pay any price above or in full, you will have an opportunity to request a payment plan or additional equity pricing when registration opens.
Your Facilitator
About Hilary Kinavey
MS, LPC · Co-Founder, Center for Body Trust · Grief Ritual Facilitator
Hilary Kinavey is a therapist, facilitator, writer, and co-founder of the Center for Body Trust in Portland, Oregon. She has spent 25 years working at the intersection of trauma, the body, and the cultures that teach us to distrust both. Her clinical practice has always been oriented toward grief — not just the grief of death and loss, but the grief that lives inside chronic pain, body shame, relational rupture, and the daily cost of surviving systems that were never designed with our wholeness in mind.
Hilary is a trained grief ritual facilitator in the lineage of Francis Weller, and has co-facilitated grief-centered courses and community rituals for clinicians and care workers. She co-hosts the Body Trust Podcast and is co-author of Reclaiming Body Trust (2022). She also leads EMBER, a practice architecture program for therapists and care professionals navigating the deeper questions underneath their work.
Grief is asking to be welcomed, not managed.
Join us for two mornings that might change how you sit with sorrow — in your clients, in your communities, and in yourself.
Let’s Connect
Receive invitations to upcoming events and powerful tools for exploring your body story.
