The Courage to Orbit: Healing for Actors, Shifts in Suicide Policy, and Space for Grief

💌 Dear Friends of the California Grief Center

“We are trying to save ourselves separately, and that is immoral—that is the corrosive among us.” — Arthur Miller

In a world split by shadow and glare—where cruelty trends and truth is gaslit—we choose another path.

We gather to shine.
To speak the dark aloud.
To remind each other: love still belongs here.

This week, we offer space to grieve, to ground, and to tend the deeper light within us.

🔦 In This Issue
🕊️ Sally Ride: The Courage to Orbit
💥 Two Landmark Shifts in Suicide Policy
🎭 ACT: Paid Theater Healing for LA Actors (Sun 6/22)
🧠 Grief 101: The Purpose of Psychology
🗳️ Political Grief & Gaslighting
🕯️ June HOPE Group (Virtual)
🌊 CGC: What We Offer

🕊️ Sally Ride: The Courage to Orbit

Some women climb mountains. Sally Ride left the planet.

In June 1983, she became the first American woman—and youngest American—to travel to space. A quiet, brilliant visionary, she also held a hidden truth: a 27-year relationship with Tam O’Shaughnessy, revealed only after her passing.

This Pride Month, we honor:
✅ The courage to rise while misunderstood
✅ Her impact on women & queer youth in STEM
✅ 343 hours in space—and a lifetime of opening doors

You don’t need to shout to change the world.
You don’t need permission to make history.
Sometimes the bravest thing is simply to keep going.

💥 Suicide Policy: Two Historic Shifts

🗽 U.S.: LGBTQ+ Hotline Defunded

Starting July 17, the Trump administration will cut funding to the LGBTQ+ youth option on the 988 Suicide Hotline.
The Trevor Project warns this may halve their capacity. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death for queer youth.

📰 NYT | ABC | BBC

💂 U.K.: Assisted Dying Legalized

British lawmakers passed a bill legalizing assisted dying for people with terminal illness and less than 6 months to live.
It now heads to the House of Lords.

📰 BBC

🎭 Actors Catharsis Theater (ACT)

This Sunday in LA

ACT pays actors for their emotional labor—and honors the courage it takes to feel.

Because LA’s actors are hurting.
Long strikes. Vanishing auditions. Financial insecurity.
We believe actors are emotional first responders. They carry our collective joy and sorrow—and deserve care in return.

This Sunday, we open the stage for healing.

🎬 Bring a short, off-book monologue (2–3 minutes).
From there, the group selects two performers to become "protagonists" in a live, psychodrama-inspired process—unlocking artistic blocks and reclaiming emotional power.

💵 Chosen actors receive 50% of all donations.
🫶 Thanks to ArtsUP! LA and their generous donation of The Blue Door Theater, more support goes directly to the artists.

This work continues a lineage: J.L. and Zerka Moreno, and the many who followed—including Brando, Monroe, Streep, Dean, De Niro, Burstyn, Hackman, Williams, and more—trained through methods rooted in psychodrama, emotional truth, and roleplay.

📍 Blue Door Theater, Culver City
🗓️ Sun, June 22 | ⏰ 1–4:30 PM
🎟️ 40 spots only | Suggested donation: $20–$100+

🔁 If we fill up, we’ll open a second session: 6–9:30 PM.

This isn’t therapy. It’s sacred drama.
A place to be real. To be seen. To be held.
Let’s show LA’s performers: you are not alone.

🧠 Grief 101: What’s the Purpose of Psychology?

To understand the invisible world.
To make peace with our past.
To heal what can’t be seen.
To explore potential.
To build better communities.
To remind us: we’re always in process.

Psychology doesn’t promise perfection—only understanding.
And with that, the chance to become more fully ourselves.

For more:

🗳️ Political Grief & Gaslighting: A Healing Framework

Name it: Your fear and rage are valid.
Rebuild trust: Consent-based spaces matter.
Reclaim feeling: To grieve is to resist.
Witness: “I see you. I hear you. What happened matters.”
Foster agency: Speak. Create. Protest.
Regulate: Trauma lives in the body, too.

🫂 Grief shared is grief metabolized.
To feel fully is a radical act.

For more:

🕯️ June HOPE Group (Virtual)

Mindfulness for Silent Pain & Political Grief
with Patrick Park, Senior Dharma Teacher in the Zen Tradition

🗓 Sat, June 28
⏰ 10–11:30 AM PT | 1–2:30 PM ET
💻 Donation-Based | All Are Welcome
Facilitated by Brian Stefan, LCSW & Mariela Bravo

This space is for anyone holding silent sorrow—or needing mindful connection in a time of transition.

🌊 What We Offer

Grief isn’t something to solve.
It’s something to meet—with presence, care, and truth.

Here’s how we support you:
💬 1-on-1 Therapy
👥 Group Healing (Virtual & In-Person)
🎭 Catharsis Theater for Deep Emotional Release

Explore more at www.caligrief.com
✨ Free consultations available.

With heart,
Brian Stefan, LCSW
Founder, California Grief Center
🕊️ Facing the hurt—together.

P.S. Know someone who could use this?
Forward it along. The stage is open. Everyone belongs.