BEFRIENDING DEATH: READING GROUP

“We have forgotten the primary language of grief. As a consequence, the terrain of sorrow has become unfamiliar and estranged, leaving us confused, frightened, and lost when grief comes near.”

The topic of death is a difficult one for most of us. Yet, inevitably, death will take a seat in our lives—personally, professionally, or both. As therapists, it is vital to examine our own relationship with death, dying, and grief so that we can hold space for others when it enters the therapy room.

This book group is designed for therapists who want to explore death and grief in a setting that is both personal and professional—not entirely clinical, but not separate from our work either. Together, we will engage with literature that illuminates different aspects of loss, dying, and mourning, creating a space for reflection, discussion, and deepening our capacity to sit with what is often unspoken.

The first four books I’ve chosen to start our monthly dates with getting to know death are: Absolutely Delicious: A Chronicle of Extraordinary Dying, The Undertaking (essays about working with death), Were You Close? (sibling loss), and The Year of Magical Thinking. We’ll probably add It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Motherless Daughters and more clinically focused books if desired.

ABOUT KIMBERLEY

Therapist + Supervisor + Trainer + Speaker

Kimberley is a graduate of St. Edward's University and a grief and trauma therapist in south Austin. She was a therapist for 4 years at Austin's Center for Grief and Loss as well as a support group facilitator working with both adults and children who had suffered a death. While there, she and a colleague who worked at hospice discussed the difficulties and heaviness of grief work with adults. From this seed, she created Morbid Curiosity: A Game About Death.

Kimberley has attended Order of the Good Death national events, local Death Cafés, suicide prevention conferences and workshops, grief group facilitation training, and a variety of unique and sometimes quirky death-focused events. She offers workshops, lectures, and consultation about death, working with grief, and sitting with our mortality.

First Monday of the Month, 10:30am-12pm
2025: March 3, April 7, May 5, June 9 or 16*, July 7, August 4, September 1, October 6, November 3, December 1

$25 per meeting
1.5 CEUs Available per meeting
6 month commitment