For Facilitators

Grief trainings need to be an experiential pedagogy. When we know pain, we are more empathetic to the grief and the pain of others. When we anesthetize our own pain, we anesthetize the pain of others, too. We need more trainings, or rather “untrainings” to help clinicians and therapists learn how to best support those in grief by doing their own work first and foremost.

“An all day experiential where we could be our clients. This was quite nice. It’s scary for me to be vulnerable in a group. While it was still challenging, Amy was able to invite everyone’s compassion in.”

— Grief Medicine Workshop Participant

Grief Medicine for Facilitators:

Small Groups and Non-Profits

I offer virtual and in-person grief workshops for group practices and non-profits that are catered to the specific needs of the organization and the populations you serve. Past participants have shared that the experience is not only informative on a professional development level but also fosters a sense of community and connection within your organization. My fee is $300/hr for 1, 2, and 3-hr trainings. Please reach out for day rates.

Topics from past gatherings:

  • Working with traumatic loss

  • Grief and the power of somatic therapy

  • Critical Incident Responding

  • Grief and the power of groups

  • Expressive arts, movement, and grief

  • The Gates of Grief, as taught by Francis Weller

  • Grief and its role in social movements

Untraining: A 6-Week Grief Education Course for Professionals

2026 Date -

TBA

A 6-week grief education course

for therapists, coaches, and healers

to grow their knowledge in working

with populations experiencing grief.

As those in the helping profession, we are seldom taught how to be with grief in our graduate, certificate, or coaching programs, and yet loss is everywhere. Every client who walks into your office is in one way or another, impacted by loss. When we know pain, we are more empathetic to the grief and pain of others. When we anesthetize our own pain, we anesthetize the pain of others, too. To be well-versed in the world of grief therapy, we often have to re-examine what we learned in our programs and see what really helps our clients when they are in the throes of grief. I work with clinicians and healers to access and tend to their grief from the inside and view grief as one of the key ingredients to dismantling the structures that perpetuate harm to build more resilience and courage in these heartbreaking times.

In this experiential pedagogy, participants will learn:

How to detect the variety of losses that clients may be experience

  • Helpful tools and skills to facilitate group and individual grief therapy

  • How to define traumatic loss and what measures to consider when working with it

  • How to address individual and collective grief through the lens of group work, expressive arts, and somatic therapy

  • How to be in right relationship to their own grief

  • How to set an effective container to support clients experiencing loss

Curious if this is a good fit for you and your community? Please give me a call or text at (650) 762-9220 or email me amyhyunswart@gmail.com to schedule a complimentary 15-min consultation.

Grief Medicine for Facilitators Testimonials

  • “The experiential were THE BEST. I’ve been to many presentations and workshops on grief…all the “thinking” workshops. This is better (and preferred) experience and learning opportunity.

    - CAMFT Workshop Participant

  • "Amy is an exceptional facilitator who excels in addressing sensitive subjects such as death, dying, grief, loss, and trauma. Her compassionate and inclusive approach creates a safe space for individuals to process some of life’s most difficult conversations. With a deep understanding rooted in her own personal journey through grief, Amy embodies the healing process and models authentic engagement with challenging emotions."

    - Non Profit Participant

  • "Amy has a gravity and kindness of presence that invites a gentle surrender into the territory of grief. Her grief work, different from many other types of therapy, allows for fully embodied exploration and expression of the feeling state of grief. It's not just intellectualization or talking about and around loss. Instead there's a movement through grief and an experience of being witnessed and understood in this tender place"

    - Group Practice Participant

  • "Amy’s unique style makes her a perfect fit for teams and organizations looking to deepen their understanding of grief and loss, cultivate emotional resilience, and create space for healing within their work."

  • “Excellent! Really appreciated the experiential exercises + the presenter’s background (professional and personal and creative). Loved the pace. Didn’t feel rushed. Felt relaxed and spacious.”

    - CAMFT Workshop Participant

  • “Experiential focus was PERFECT for the subject. So helpful to “do” what we will share with our clients!”

    - CAMFT Workshop Participant

  • “An all day experiential where we could be our clients. This was quite nice. It’s scary for me to be vulnerable in a group. While it was still challenging, Amy was able to invite everyone’s compassion in.”

    - CAMFT Workshop Participant

  • “Great balance of slides + experiential. Gentle and strong leadership style, inclusive, authentic.”

    - Non Profit Participant

  • "This training provides a rare opportunity for individuals to explore and express complex feelings like loss, shame, guilt, and sorrow in an accepting, non-judgmental environment. Amy’s ability to embrace diverse cultural and spiritual perspectives around death and dying allows for a collective experience that honors the many ways grief manifests. Her work fosters a community of healing, where each participant is encouraged to take from the experience what resonates most with them, while releasing what no longer serves them."

  • "In Amy Hyun Swart’s experiential workshop on grief we explored the many different ways that grief touches our lives and learned very useful language to help in understanding and expressing where we experience grief in our hearts, minds and bodies. The material covered in the workshop was incredibly empowering but it was Amy’s empathic, passionate yet gentle and assured presence that made the workshop especially powerful and profound. I was particularly appreciative of how she curated the workshop to address the specific experiences and needs of our group. Amy guided us through some very emotional explorations surrounding grief with expertise, love and compassion and held the space with grace, kindness and confidence. She is a truly unique and exceptional grief guide and I am grateful and thankful for having had this opportunity to collaborate with her."

    - Sarah Lotus Garret, Mixed Bloom Room

  • "Your passion for this work is inspiring, and it's clear you have a gift for making complex emotions more accesible and relatable. Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom with us and for reminding us of the privilege we have in walking alongside people during their most vulnerable moments."

    - Founder of Nonprofit

 
 

About Amy (she/her/hers)

Alongside working as a grief therapist for over a decade, I’ve personally been in apprenticeship with grief since early childhood when my dad died unexpectedly. It has been a passion for me to help others feel supported in their losses as this was not my experience due to our societal and cultural views towards grief. It was not until my mid-twenties that I finally began to turn towards my own loss — something I was so terrified of — and began to feel more fully alive, connected to myself and others, and less exhausted and dissociated from running from the past.

Being multiracial second-generation Korean American and white (Western European and Jewish) from a blended family, my loved ones represent a handful of races, native tongues, cultures, sexual orientations, socioeconomic and educational statuses, and spiritual beliefs. I honor the unique impact that these identities have upon one’s life story. It is my intention to provide a safe space for those of all intersectionality of identities to feel seen, welcomed, and accepted.

I bring in my lived experience as somatic-based grief and trauma therapist, expressive arts therapist, yoga and meditation teacher, artist and writer, to welcome your whole self to feel seen, heard, and understood on your journey through grief.

I have faith in the healing power of connection and collective liberation through group work, and feel honored and grateful to my teachers who have informed my work. Deep gratitude to Francis Weller, who I had the honor of studying with for seven years, and many other mentors I have had the privilege of working with along the way, such as Ken Hardy, Karen Rachels, Craig Penner, Manuel Mischke-Reeds, and Joanne Cacciatore.

Read pandemic grief article that features interview with Amy published in WIRED Magazine here

Read interview with Amy on collective grief published in San Francisco Chronicle here

Read chapter by Amy on grief and collective liberation here