GRIEF SUPPORT THROUGH writing workshops & mentoring
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.
—Rainier Maria Rilke
I believe everyone can benefit from creative writing, especially those working in or adjacent to the mental health fields and those dealing with grief and loss. Poetry and life writing allow us to make meaning of our experiences through metaphor, detail, description, and story.
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One-on-one mentoring
Maybe you’re grieving a loved one, a pet, or a relationship. Or perhaps your grief is related to health, career, ecological or political damage. Most of us have experienced a variety of losses: that is the human experience. Through videocall conversations, readings, and writing prompts, we’ll craft ways for you to express and process your feelings.
Writing workshops
Small group workshops can provide both community and structure, and my approach to facilitating these groups includes sample readings, writing prompts, and clear guidance for supportive responses. Discussion of your poems and short life writing will center on appreciation, interpretation, and exploration.
Compassionate and nonjudging listening
Grief has no rules. Your loss may have occurred years ago or it may be happening right now. Feelings and thoughts about your experiences are normal; “getting over it” and “moving past it” are oversimplified shorthand phrases that do not embrace the full complexity and richness of human experience.
Exploring the power and joy of writing together
All levels of writing experience welcome, from “I’ve never written a poem” to “I’ve published books.”
Workshops
For these workshops, offered by videocall and limited to six participants, the first meeting will be to discuss your expectations and hopes as well as my approach. After that there will be two-hour sessions meeting weekly for four weeks.
Family & Loss and Divorce & Breakups combined workshop
Wednesdays, 6-8pm Central time, April 24-May 22, 2024
$160 $150 per person for a limited time (Please contact me if you’re interested but cannot afford the fee and we can work something out.)
TWO SPOTS LEFT!
Body & Self
Wednesdays, June 5-July 3, 2024
$160 $150 per person for a limited time (Please contact me if you’re interested but cannot afford the fee and we can work something out.)
Chronic illness, injury, and aging can profoundly change the way our bodies work. How might those changes affect our sense of self, and how might we grieve them?
Future Workshops
Let me know if there’s a specific loss topic you’re interested in, or if you’d be content with a group of people grieving different losses. And if you’d like me to offer an asynchronous class–online, with weekly readings, prompts, deadlines, and supportive responses from me and classmates–please tell me that as well. I know people are busy and don’t always want to Zoom.
Click below to email me. If you can mention dates, days, and times that work best for you, I’ll keep that in mind.
…and placed my grief in the mouth of language, the only thing that would grieve with me.
–Lisel Mueller
…we
listened to the stars hiss
into the bent horizon, blossoms
the sea gathered tenderly, each
shattered and singular one
long dead, but even so, incandescent,
making a singed sound, singing
as they went.
—Dorianne Laux
What folks are saying about katie
Map keeper
Katie provides insightful feedback in a positive manner that is easy to digest even for artists as sensitive as myself. If poetry is a journey, Katie is a map keeper with intuitive knowledge of where the traveler is trying to go and how to get there on a single tank of gas.
Tia
Former student at USF
Poetic outlook
I didn’t expect that poetry would ever be the key to figuring myself out in college. Katie made that happen. She recognized and encouraged me in her soft and kind way. Everything about her is soft, but vibrant and completely sincere: her compliments, suggestions, even simple conversation. I learned to look at my life more poetically because of her. I’m a lot happier in my outlook because of her poetry and her guidance.
Victoria
Former student at USF
When poetry has done its important work of revealing and describing the hidden hell we carry and perpetuate, it also has this power and privilege to cleanse and renew our vision, and set us on the right road again.
― Malcolm Guite, The Word in the Wilderness
FAQs
How are the mentoring sessions conducted?
I use Zoom because it has the best connection quality, and I think it’s important to be able to see each other while we talk. I also want to be able to work with anyone, no matter where they live.
How is your mentoring different from counseling?
As a poet, writer, and teacher of more than 30 years, my expertise lies in helping people explore their own ideas and feelings through writing. I also have professional training in grief support. I do not have a counseling degree or accreditation, and I will direct you towards appropriate therapy if needed.
What commitment is required?
When you sign up for individual sessions or a workshop, you will sign a contract that ensures both my and your valuable time is respected. You will get the most out of working with me if you do assignments ahead of time and participate fully.
What results can I expect from your mentoring or workshops?
You will gain new insights into your life experiences, practice compassionate attention towards yourself and others, process and reflect on grief and loss, and learn writing strategies that can expand your understanding of the human experience.
How much do your workshops and mentoring cost?
Workshops cost $160 for five weeks. Individual mentoring is $60/hour, unless you purchase a package of four sessions, which is $200.
Will you criticize my writing?
No. I, or your workshop peers, may ask questions or make suggestions for revision or future writing, but your writing is about self-exploration, and I want you to be excited to write the next poem, or the next true life story. If I ever fail to respond in a helpful or compassionate way, I expect you to let me know so I can do better.
What if I decide I want to publish my writing?
I have experience publishing poetry and life writing (also called creative nonfiction), and we can set up sessions for me to help you decide where and how you’d like to publish. As a writer and editor, I’ve been part of the process from different perspectives. I have also self-published. If you’re interested in publishing fiction, or hope for a New York book contract, I will suggest others who may be able to help you.
How is this different from other writing workshops?
My experience, training, and perspective have led me to believe that writing creatively matters for everyone, not just college students or literary writers. Humans possess a type of magic: we can create. That magic can be life-changing as it helps us see why and how our own experiences are important and what they mean. I want to mentor your writing for the quality of your life, not (just) for publication.
Ready to explore your life through writing?
Schedule your free consultation and find out how my mentorship and workshops can help you.