I've been studying Sowa Rigpa since 2018 with Dr. Nida Chenagtsang and Drukmo Gyal, as well as various teachers through Pure Land Farms, both in-person and on-line. My current Sowa Rigpa studies include: SR Counselor Year 2 (in-process), SR Yoga Practitioner (2023-2034 Cohort, in-process), and Tibetan Mantra Healer Training Program (2024, in-process).

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor in full-time private practice in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (USA), specializing in end-of-life issues, loss, grief, bereavement, anxiety, depression and adjustment disorders. Both in my private practice and in community-based support groups, I offer an integrated Western psychological and Sowa Rigpa approach to mental health and overall wellness to those navigating death and non-death loss and life reconstruction.

This presentation shares an integrated curriculum for Bereavement Support Groups in the United States, and other countries as culturally appropriate, combining current best practices rooted in Western psychology and the modern hospice movement with Sowa Rigpa’s five types of healing methods. Both traditions acknowledge that human beings grieve as whole people: emotionally, cognitively, behaviorally, socially, physically, and spiritually, and each has unique techniques and methods appropriate to treat the wide range of grief symptoms reported by the bereaved. Adding select Sowa Rigpa healing methods to modern bereavement support interventions increases and enhances the choices available to clients as they move beyond coping and adapt to their new reality. For many people this is a long, unfamiliar and arduous journey. Having access to a broad “toolbox” of useful knowledge, coping skills, and adapting strategies appropriate to changing circumstances benefits those struggling with impermanence and change. This presentation provides a review of modern grief conceptualizations and psychoeducation and especially focuses on the contributions that traditional Tibetan medicine can provide to the bereaved in light of the dysregulation of the nyepas as a result of significant loss. Some qualitative research experiences, based in traditional Tibetan medicine, will be reported.