Learn How to Apply Radical Grief Perspectives
to Invigorate, Deepen, and Liberate Your Practice

CONTACT ME FOR MORE DETAILS

​Why this class?
Psychotherapist and soul activist Francis Weller shared that the symbol of the vessel  “is one frequently referenced in spiritual traditions and in the work of therapy. The idea suggests that deep psychic work requires a holding space, a secure container, within which the work of change can take place.”

As therapists, we are both a vessel and the creator of the vessel we provide and tend to for our clients in the therapeutic space.

But how do we navigate a world of ever increasing sorrows—a collective of sorrows we too are living within while we are tending to others? How can we learn to understand radical grief theory as an overall framework that can lead to transformation, liberation, and joy for our clients and ourselves?
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 The Practice of Vesseling: A Clinical Collective to Deepen Into the Therapeutic Self  is a three-part hybrid consult-study-support group that will use the ancient symbol of the vessel and the framework of radical grief and loss to explore the clinical realms we travel through as therapists in a world of collective sorrow. It is open to licensed therapists, social workers, and other helping professions as well as associate marriage and family therapists.

Register below for our free introduction to The Practice of Vesseling.

FUTURE DATES TBD

This FREE intro offers an opportunity to:

• Learn about radical grief and loss and how it can enhance any theoretical orientation to deepen into your practice with clients
• Explore grief as more than just a reaction to loss, but as a social justice movement that paves the way to liberation, joy, and more connection with our inner world, the natural world, and each other.
• Meet your facilitator—that’s me!—and let me share with you what inspired my own learning around radical grief and loss and why I want to offer this group to our therapeutic community.
• Hear more about the group objectives and offerings and learn how to take the next steps to join.

About the Presenter
Meet Jackie Toth, MA LMFT:
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After working in community mental health for over 20 years, I received my MA in counseling psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. I am a depth-oriented psychotherapist with a private practice in Southern California. I am currently an adjunct faculty member at Pacifica, focusing on guiding students through the thesis process. I am a former adjunct faculty at  Antioch University, where I had the privilege of teaching Loss and Bereavement for several quarters.

My journey through grief and loss has been lifelong, and when I started a clinical internship at Camarillo Hospice, I finally found a sturdy community to deepen into companioning others through their grief--and to delve into my own legacy of loss. 

My personal experiences with grief and loss, combined with my clinical training and insights I gained during the COVID pandemic, led me to the works of Francis Weller and radical grief theory. I continue to study with Weller and others, including Shauna Janz.

Recently, I completed a 6-month training with Francis Weller and his team on grief ritual and practice. My unique approach to therapy blends relational, imaginal, and traditional approaches with radical perspectives on grief and loss. I am also a member of AGPA and GPALA and facilitate groups for childless women in midlife and beyond. 

I continue to be inspired by writers and activists like Ross Gay, Malkia Devich-Cyril, Martin Prechtel, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Melissa Febos, among others. Recently published articles include The Reclamation of Legacy: Journeying Through Grief and Praise as a Childfree, Middle-Aged Woman, and Sinead, Whale Heart (In the Summer 2024 Issue of Feminist Spaces). Aside from a reading a good book, during my free time you may find me writing, hanging out with trees, and engaging in juicy conversations with friends about movies, music, and culture.