Political Fires, Personal Burnout: Grief & Processing for Helping Professionals (Virtual | Friday)

💌 Dear Friends of the California Grief Center,

In a world burning from smoke and strife—where flames leap from firearms and from screens—we choose another path.

We come together to feel.
To speak the pain aloud.
To remind one another: we belong.

This week, with hearts heavy, we offer spaces to gather, to grieve, to get unstuck—and to remember the deeper work we are called to do.

🔦 In This Issue:
🗓️ Virtual Political Grief & Processing Session — June 13 (Friday)
🕯️ June HOPE Group: Mindfulness Tools for Silent Pain
💔 Provider Wellness Survey & Call to Action
🕊️ Reflection: Frances Perkins & The Leadership We Need
🌊 What We Offer at the California Grief Center

🗓️ Virtual Political Grief & Processing Session

For All Helping Professionals
Friday, June 13
12–1:30 PM PT | 3–4:30 PM ET
Free for NASW Members | $10 for Non-Members
Presented in partnership with NASW
[Register Here]

We are living through unprecedented political and social times.
Grief, anger, fear, and burnout are everywhere—in our headlines, in our clients, and in ourselves.

And here is the truth:
👉 When we don’t process what we feel, we get stuck.
👉 When we get stuck, cynicism, despair, and paralysis take root.

Social workers know the way through. We have always known. This is what the heart of mental health work was built for:

➡️ Identifying feelings
➡️ Feeling feelings
➡️ Learning from feelings

Beneath the swirl of it all, there are six primary feelings we must honor and work through:
Mad • Sad • Glad • Afraid • Ashamed • Hurt (MSG-AAH)

Our charge now—as helpers, as leaders, as a moral conscience in troubled times—is to model this path for others by walking it ourselves.

This gathering is a place to begin, or to continue, that work.

For:
✨ Social Workers, Therapists, Psychologists, Nurses, Physicians
✨ First & Last Responders, Crisis Line Responders
✨ Teachers, Clergy, Nonprofit Staff, Caregivers, Peer Specialists, Advocates

Each session offers:
✅ A space to identify and feel what’s under the surface
✅ Practical tools rooted in modern grief and trauma theory
✅ Collective processing to get “unstuck”
✅ Support for moving through the feeling cycle toward clarity, action, and hope

Why now?
Grief work is not a luxury. It is a necessity—especially for those tasked with helping others.

If we don’t process our own waves of Mad • Sad • Glad • Afraid • Ashamed • Hurt, we risk becoming numb or reactive when the world most needs us steady, clear, and brave.

Join us. Come as you are. All are welcome.

👉 [Register Here]

🕯️ June HOPE Group: Mindfulness Tools for Silent Pain & Deep Sorrow

Healing Ourselves through the Present Experience (Virtual)
Saturday, June 28 | 10–11:30 AM PT | 1–2:30 PM ET
Donation-Based | All Are Welcome | [Register Here →]

For those carrying silent pain.
For those moving through deep sorrow.
For those seeking a pause to come back to breath, body, and being.

Join us for a HOPE Group dedicated to mindfulness-based tools for grief, loss, and trauma.

Facilitated by Brian Stefan & Mariela Bravo.

Come as you are. All are welcome.

👉 [Register Here]

💔 Provider Wellness Survey & Call to Action

The wounds of this moment run deep—not just in those we serve, but in those who serve.

In recent months, our field has seen a heartbreaking rise in stories of therapists, counselors, and providers lost to suicide.

We are not immune to the despair we help others face.
We must do more to care for one another.

In partnership with the California Grief Center, colleagues are conducting a Provider Wellness Survey to study hopelessness, helplessness, and despair among mental health professionals—so we can shape better support.

If you are a provider, please take 5 minutes to add your voice:
👉 [Take the Survey Now →]

And remember: you matter. Your life matters. Your well-being matters.

🕊️ Reflection: Frances Perkins & The Leadership We Need

Some women take a seat at the table—and the whole room shifts.
Frances Perkins was one of them.

Trailblazer. Reformer. Relentless advocate.

The first female U.S. Cabinet member, Perkins helped build the social safety net that still shapes American life today:
☑️ Social Security
☑️ Unemployment insurance
☑️ Minimum wage
☑️ Limits on child labor

When others said “That can’t be done,” she asked “Who needs it done?”—and then did it.

She reminds us: leadership is not ego. It is service.
And even in dark times, there is work worth doing.

👉 [Read more → SSA.gov | U.S. Dept of Labor | Biography of Frances Perkins]

🌊 What We Offer at the California Grief Center

Grief is not a problem to fix. It is a presence to honor.

We offer:
💬 Individual Therapy & Support
👥 Healing Groups
🎭 Catharsis Theater — our signature experiential workshop

📞 Schedule a free consult or refer someone today
🌐 [Learn more → www.caligrief.com]

With heart,
Brian Stefan, LCSW
Founder, California Grief Center

🕊️ Facing the hurt—together.

P.S. Know someone who could use this? Forward it along. Invite them to visit www.caligrief.com—everyone belongs here.