Creative Grief Cohort

A soft space to be vulnerable.

Grief is lonely, but making art through it shouldn’t be.

The Creative Grief Cohort brings together people who are grieving. We meet weekly to create, share, and witness each other in both grief and creative practice.

Your creative work will receive thoughtful engagement, and your story will be met with tenderness.

Fall 2026 Cohort runs Sept 30th-Nov 11th

🍂

Fall 2026 Cohort runs Sept 30th-Nov 11th 🍂

This program is for you if:

  • You have experienced grief – be it a loss of a loved one, a pet, a dream, or a version of yourself

  • You want to use creativity to process your grief

  • You long for a soft space to be vulnerable with others

  • You can show up consistently for yourself and your peers, without needing to have it all together

What’s Included:

  • 2.5 hours of structured group time each week for 6 weeks

  • One 1:1 session with a facilitator (Maile, Kat, or Alicia)

  • Readings and prompts throughout the week

  • Email check-ins between sessions

  • A final Process Showing open to friends, family, and community

  • A cohort that can hold the heavy stuff

🍂 Practical Info - Fall 2026 Cohort 🍂

Applications due: August 23rd, 2026 | 11:59pm PST

Phone Chat: Last week of August

Applicants notified: First week of September

Program: Wednesdays, September 30th-November 11th, 2026 | 6-8:30pm

Process Showing: Wednesday, November 11th, 2026 | 7-9pm

All meetings and the Process Showing will take place at FLOCK Dance Center, 2516 NW 29th Ave, Portland, OR

The cost of the cohort is $450. We’re committed to making the Creative Grief Cohort accessible while honoring the depth of what’s offered. Tuition can be payed in full or in a payment plan. We also offer a limited amount of partial scholarships. Please fill out the scholarship application form in addition to your regular application form.

Apply
scholarship application

Creativity

∞

Community

∞

Healing

∞

Spirituality

∞

Creativity ∞ Community ∞ Healing ∞ Spirituality ∞

What to expect:

Participants can expect to meet weekly every Wednesday evening for structured group sharing time. During these sessions, we will have check-ins, somatic movement, group activities and prompts, and time set aside to share what you’ve been processing and working on that week, and to receive thoughtful reflections from your peers and facilitators.

We will give you guided exploratory prompts at the end of each session as “homework” for the week, as well as pair you up with a different peer in the cohort as an “accountabil-a-buddy”. You are encouraged to connect with your buddy between sessions either in person or over the phone.

The Process Showing will be on the seventh Wednesday. It is completely optional to participate, however we encourage you to do so! The Process Showing may include selections of our process together (poems, sketches, etc.), as well as, if you so choose, a singular creative project made throughout the time in the cohort. Above all, the Process Showing is an outcome of our process and vulnerability together as a group, as opposed to an art show focused on final projects/products.

Among other things, participants can expect to spend most of our time in a circle on the floor together, which includes tissue boxes, a large tea bag selection, candles, floor cushions, colored pencils kept in a mug, and an intimate space held with soft structure.

Creative Grief Cohort FAQ

  • All the better! The most important thing is that you arrive with curiosity, openness, and vulnerability. Our process is much less focused on artistic “skill” or technicality, as opposed to using your grief as a source for process. Trust the creativity will follow!

  • Experiencing grief and loss is intrinsic to the human experience. Whether you feel like your grief is “too much” or “not enough”, we welcome you and all your multitudes with warm, open arms.

  • Consider if you have the resource and capacity to show up for yourself and for your peers each week. We have had participants in all the stages of grief (which is really like this 🌀, if we’re being honest), but we’ve found that those who are able to fully get the most of our the curriculum and cohort are those who have had some time to process the event, have some therapy, and arrive into the cohort feeling self-resourced.

  • This is NOT group therapy! We invite participants to always lead with vulnerability, while first prioritizing their own personal boundaries, and the safety of the group.

    During our first session together, we’ll set the container with community agreements, beliefs, and guidelines so we all can feel safe together.

  • Peace Tree Collective stands firmly against intolerance of any kind. We welcome people of all backgrounds, identities, and walks of life. Our cohorts are spaces where all participants can feel safe, respected, and valued for who they are.

  • FLOCK Dance Center is ADA Accessible, with plenty of street parking available. We do a lot of floor sitting during sessions, so bring whatever you need to be comfortable. If sitting on the floor isn't accessible for you, just let us know—we'll have chairs ready. 💗

  • You can learn more about us here! ☺️