About | The Body Grief Coach

About Me

Hi, I’m Jenn (she/they).

I live with neurodivergence, madness, and chronic pain, illness, and disability. My work is shaped by survival, grief, and by what it means to keep choosing life in a world that often makes that feel impossible.

I support people who have lived through what should never have happened. People whose bodyminds carry grief, trauma, illness, difference, or loss. People who have been harmed by systems that claimed to help. People who are tired of being told to heal faster, cope better, or become more acceptable.

My own story includes childhood abuse, involuntary psychiatric commitment, forced medication, and being labeled noncompliant when what I was really doing was trying to survive. Systems meant to protect me took away autonomy I had already lost. To stay alive, I turned to substances, self injury, and disordered eating. These were not failures. They were strategies. Over time, with care, support, and a deep reckoning with grief, I found safer ways to live in my bodymind.

Picture of Jenn with large brown and black dog

I do not believe healing is about fixing yourself. I believe it is about relationship, dignity, choice, and being witnessed without needing to perform wellness.

My work is rooted in lived experience, disability justice, liberatory harm reduction, and Mad Liberation. I offer support that honors autonomy. I center those who are often pushed to the margins, including chronically ill folks, disabled folks, spoonies, survivors, queer and trans people, and those navigating grief, madness, or major life transitions.

Through my work as The Body Grief Coach, I offer grief tending, holistic peer support, and trauma informed practices for people moving through loss, rupture, and change. This is not about forcing hope or positivity. It is about staying with what is real and finding ways to keep going that do not require self abandonment.

If you are looking for someone who will not rush you, pathologize you, or try to make you smaller for comfort, you may be in the right place. I am here to work alongside you, honoring the wisdom of your bodymind and the truth of your experience.

Learning and Lineages

Coaching Certifications

Certified Grief Coach
Certified Health & Wellness Coach
Certified Trauma-Informed Coach
SHE RECOVERS® Coach

Eating Disorder and Body Liberation Training

Certified Eating Disorder Recovery Coach
Eating Disorder Harm Reduction Course with Gloria Lucas
Body Trust® Certification Program (In Progress)

Community Care, Recovery, and Harm Reduction Training

Certified Community Health Worker
Certified National Peer Recovery Support Specialist
Certified Trauma Support Specialist
Alternatives to Suicide Facilitator
Hearing Voices Facilitator
Mindful Recovery Facilitator
Harm Reduction Approach to Self-Injury
Certified Trainer, Recovery Coaching: A Harm Reduction Pathway
Certified MAT Advocate

Death, Grief, and Threshold Studies

Death Doula
Deathwives Death School
Nine Keys School of Death Arts
Grief Immersion for Death Workers
Ordained Animist Minister, Web of Life Animist Church

Yoga Certification

Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT® 500)
- 200-Hour Training: Trauma-Informed, Accessible, Adaptive, and Size-Inclusive Yoga
- 300-Hour Training: Community and Health Resilience Yoga

Collaborations and Contributions

Grief and Harm Reduction Initiatives

Act With Hope: After Grief and Loss in Peer Services (May 2025)
National Council for Mental Wellbeing

A webinar addressing grief and loss in substance use recovery for both clients and peer recovery support specialists. Offered practical strategies for navigating grief, fostering resilience, and supporting both workers and those they serve.

Empowering Recovery: Ethics and Shared Decision-Making in Behavioral Health (Sep to Oct 2024)
Harborview Behavioral Health Institute

A free, self-paced, accredited training on ethics and collaborative decision-making for behavioral health professionals, supporting client-centered care in substance use and mental health settings.

Peer-Led Grief Support Space for Harm Reductionists (Feb to Jul 2024)
National Council for Mental Wellbeing

A six-month pilot project offering monthly peer-led virtual gatherings for harm reduction workers to share, tend, and honor grief. Focused on building connection, community, and emotional support through harm reduction and collective care principles.

Community-Based Work

Group Facilitator, Harm Reduction Works

(Oct 2023 – Sep 2024)

Facilitated Harm Reduction Works groups for family and friends, offering a harm reduction-based approach within a supportive and compassionate space. Together, we shared coping strategies for stress, encouraged self-care, and exchanged valuable resources.

LGBTQIA2S+ Committee Member, NAADAC – The Association for Addiction Professionals

(Nov 2021 – Apr 2025)

Contributed to reviewing and promoting clinical standards supporting LGBTQIA2S+ individuals in addiction and mental health fields. Advised leadership on current issues, developed educational resources, and advocated for inclusive standards among professionals and agencies.

Community Crisis Response Team Member, Nashville Community Crisis Response

(Aug 2022 – Feb 2024)

Collaborated with community organizers to promote non-carceral mental health crisis responses. Facilitated workshops, connected people with resources, and contributed to a community survey to improve crisis response equity.

Domestic Violence Peer Support Group Facilitator, YWCA Nashville & Middle Tennessee

(Jan 2019 – Jun 2019)

Led weekly peer support sessions focused on domestic violence, centering harm reduction and creating space for compassionate conversations about substance use and the distinct challenges of substance use coercion. Offered support around grief, trauma, and collective care while fostering connection and community among residents.