Painting of a golden moth with dark eye-like patterning on its lower wings. Behind the moth is a magnolia tree branch with pink blossoms, a gold moon, and black background.

Disability Grief Gathering COHORT:
Fall 2026 / Sept 22-Dec 29

(8 sessions, every other Tuesday, closed group)

Inspired by the drop-in Disability Grief Gatherings that Katie started hosting in 2025, this is a longer format peer circle centred on community building, grief education, emotional processing, and expanding our capacities to hold both grief and joy as disabled and chronically ill folks. This is open to anyone 19+ who self-identifies as disabled or chronically ill.

Who this cohort is for:

Adults 19+ who have the capacity for active grief work and self-reflection
Those who have the capacity to witness the grief of others (while taking breaks as needed to honour your own pacing needs)
Those who are committed to showing up to the group sessions when you can (missing sessions for health and life stuff is all good though!)
Those who are ready to tend to and explore grief and loss related to illness and disability in a group setting (we also discuss other types of loss as they come up)

We meet every other week for 8 sessions (2 hours/session) to check in, learn, share, and expand on different aspects of the grief journey, coming to understand grief as an ever evolving rhythm that invites us deeply into ourselves and the world with care and tenderness. As disabled and chronically ill people, we hold immense wisdom. This ongoing group setting creates a more intimate and spacious opportunity for us to explore our threads of shared lived experience and the ways in which we each carry our own unique story.

Each week will follow a guided theme with a short educational component, then we’ll take time and space to share what’s coming up for us in our individual and collective grief landscapes. We always being with a centering ritual/practice.

All types of grief are welcome, whether or not they are related to disability.

Statement from Katie:

Please note this is a COVID-aware space and discussion of grief related to the ongoing pandemic and long-COVID are welcome. Disability is an intersectional experience and identity. It is inherently political, especially in a world that’s experiencing a sharp rise in fascism and ongoing mass disabling events, such as the genocide in Palestine. Grief too, is an intersectional experience. Who has access to grief care, whose grief is recognized and supported, and the ways different people are impacted by grief is dependent on the various layers of privilege and access we may or may not hold.

This space is also 2SLGBTQIA+ affirming.

The goals of this series are to:

build space and capacity within yourself to be with emotional complexity
receive and give support in community via witnessing, sharing, and connecting with each other
gather some tools to “be with” grief in a way that’s safe and accessible for you
expand your own grief fluency and self-expression
be part of a community that “gets it” so that you feel seen and supported in whatever grief you’re navigating

Some topics we’ll cover throughout this program include: creating grief boxes, grief maps, creating personal grief rituals, the Seven Languages of Sorrow created by Stephen Garrett, making meaning within grief, and understanding/expressing our grief as it relates to illness and disability, and more. This is an ever-evolving series so there may be changes to the programming to expand upon certain topics, as needed.

Dates we gather:

Tuesdays, bi-weekly:

Session #1: Tuesday, Sept 22

@ 5-7pm PT (Vancouver) / 5-7pm PDT /6-8pm MDT / CDT 7-9pm / 8-10pm EDT

Session #2: Tuesday, Oct 6

@ 5-7pm PT (Vancouver) / 5-7pm PDT /6-8pm MDT / CDT 7-9pm / 8-10pm EDT

Session #3: Tuesday, Oct 20

@ 5-7pm PT (Vancouver) / 5-7pm PDT /6-8pm MDT / CDT 7-9pm / 8-10pm EDT

(NOTE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME CHANGES WHERE YOU ARE. Much of BC (incl. Vancouver) is no longer changing our clocks back.):

Session #4: Tuesday, Nov 3