HOPE, Grief & Catharsis: Finding Connection Together

💌 Dear Friends of the California Grief Center,

In a country aching with fracture and fatigue —
where honesty is punished and hope feels rare —
we gather anyway.

We gather to witness.
To speak heartbreak aloud.
To remember: integrity still matters here.

This week, we offer spaces to grieve, to ground, and to honor the quiet courage that keeps democracy breathing.

🔦 In This Issue

🌿 Honoring Women Who Move the World: Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum
🕯️ June HOPE Group (Virtual): Mindfulness, Fear in Dying & the Sadness of Silence
🎭 Catharsis Theater (In-Person): Grief, Loss & You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone
🌱 Political Grief & Loss (Virtual): Support for Helping Professionals
💔 Grief 101: Listening to the Language of Sensation
🌊 CGC Services: How We Help & Heal

🌿 Honoring Women Who Move the World

Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo

Mexico City hums with history and hope — and at the center stands Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Mexico’s first woman president. A climate scientist by training, a public servant by calling.

When the U.S. sanctioned major Mexican banks for allegedly laundering cartel money, Sheinbaum did something rare: calmly demanded proof.

When a woman scientist rises to lead a nation, you get climate policy rooted in data, social policy anchored in dignity, and foreign relations conducted with both resolve and grace.

May we all learn from leaders who stand steady in the storm and keep asking:
Where is the truth — and how do we serve it?

🕯️ Upcoming Gatherings

Spaces to witness, share, and lighten the load

✨ June HOPE Group (Virtual)

Mindfulness, Fear in Dying, and the Sadness of Silence

🗓️ Sat, June 28 | ⏰ 10–11:30 AM PT
💻 All welcome | With Brian Stefan, LCSW & Mariela Bravo

What to expect:
• A 15-min guided mindfulness practice & meditation
• A short “dharma talk” on grief, impermanence, and the courage to keep living
• Spacious time for group sharing & questions
• A closing meditation and grounding ritual

As is tradition in these gatherings, optional donations (dāna) will be gratefully accepted — a chance to give from the heart, only if moved to do so.

Curious what a dharma talk is? It’s a short teaching on life’s deeper truths.
🎥 Watch Thích Nhất Hạnh

🎭 July Catharsis Theater (Los Angeles)

Catharsis Theater for Grief & Loss: You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone

🗓️ Sun, July 6 | ⏰ 1–4:30 PM PT
📍 The Blue Door Theater, Culver City
🎟️ Limited to ~40 seats

What you’ll experience:
• Gentle body-based warm-ups & group storytelling
• The power of witnessing (or stepping into) personal heartbreak
• Psychodrama-inspired work from J.L. Moreno — still among the safest, most effective, and most surprisingly enjoyable ways to move through grief, stuckness, and transition.

✅ Sliding scale (Green Bottle Model) so cost never stands in the way.
Because grief care is a human right.

💙 Rooted Together: Political Grief & Fear

A support space for all helping professionals — and anyone helping others.

🗓️ Thurs, July 10 | ⏰ 12–1 PM PT
💻 Free | Led by Brian Stefan, LCSW (hosting NASW spaces since 2022)

What we’ll do:
• Locate where you’re stuck right now in grief, fear, or burnout
• Practice identifying & feeling emotions (not just describing them)
• Explore the next “right action” for yourself, your family, and your community

💔 Grief 101: Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

Listening to the language of sensation

Our bodies don’t speak in words — they speak in sensations.
Tightness. Warmth. Tingling. Heaviness. Pain, yes, often pain.
But also a subtle peace or neutrality, if we pause long enough to notice.

This gentle practice comes from the groundbreaking work of Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, founder of the Trauma Resource Institute (TRI). Her Community & Trauma Resiliency Models (CRM, TRM) teach us to track one simple question:

👉 Is this sensation pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral?

This deceptively simple noticing can soften chest constriction, untie stomach knots, ease headaches, and lighten that deep fatigue that so often comes with grief.

Try it now:
💭 Scan from head to toe. What’s there?
Just notice. That’s enough for today.

For more information — and for training opportunities through TRI — click here.

🌊 What We Offer at the California Grief Center

🌀 How we support you:
💬 Individual therapy (virtual, nationwide)
👥 Grief groups (online + in-person)
🎭 Catharsis Theater (somatic + story-based healing)

✨ Free consultations.

💛 With heart,

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

✅ P.S.
Know someone quietly grieving?
Forward this their way.
The circle is open.
Everyone belongs.

They can also sign up here to receive these reflections and resources directly.