Grief Retreat & Ritual
For Pregnancy & Infant Loss
April 10th-11th, 2026
Sebastopol, CA
We offer big-hearted invitations to you to join us in a space of welcome and care, where the sorrow and love for your loss, your child, your pregnancy, can be supported, honored and witnessed.
“When our sorrows are witnessed and held within a community of compassion, grief can surprisingly turn to joy, to a love emboldened for all that surrounds us.” Francis Weller
Times: Friday, April 10th 4:00-7:00pm, and Saturday April 11th, 10:00am-6:30 pm
Facilitated by: Jessica Malmberg, LMFT and Ryan Malmberg, poet and teacher
Cost: $375 per person for early signs ups until March 10th, then $400 for signs ups March 10-April 8th. (You may pay in 2 or 3 installments if needed)
Location: a lovely rural location in Sebastopol, CA - details provided when registered.
What to expect: We are creating a space where both sorrow and love are welcome. Where the depths of this loss are understood and honored. Where we are accepted and respected for this experience.
Day 1: With gentleness and attunement, the first afternoon we will be offering time for sharing and introductions, and writing prompts to remember and witness our own sorrows. We will provide a sound healing experience, and grounding exercises.
Day 2: We will create space to drop in together with meditation and sound. To further connect with our hearts and our sorrow, we will engage in sharing and writing prompts. We will have some time for teachings about grief and poems, and have time in the garden, connecting to nature and/or one another. We will eat lunch (brought from home) and then prepare for the grief ritual, where we will build an altar together with objects from nature, things sacred to us, pictures, and create the feeling of a village. We will support a contained and yet sacred process of grieving at the altar, with some , 1-2 at a time, and others behind, supporting them with spaciousness and respect.
After this we will have time for integration, with some writing, sharing and crafting or art time to hold this time together in our hearts.
This retreat is offered in the tradition of Francis Weller, with teachings about grief, poems, and spaciousness.
We are skilled at holding deep space for people in their grief, and will create a container to both elicit the grief and hold it in a grounded way. If you are unsure of your sense of readiness for this gathering, please feel free to ask any questions or schedule a free 15 min. consultation at jessica@jessicamalmberg.com.
*This is an experiential, educational workshop for those walking through the grief and love of the loss of a pregnancy /baby, and infertility trauma. This is not a clinical, therapy offering.
LOGISTICS
There are 3 rooms onsite at the retreat available to rent upon request and refrigerators available for food, as well as a microwave and basic kitchen. We will provide snacks and ask that you bring your own lunch. Please let us know any food restrictions you have. We can provide recommendations for lodging in Sebastopol and Santa Rosa, CA.
Jessica Malmberg, LMFT is passionate about grief tending. Having walked with the loss of her infant son 17 years ago, she knows the dark realms well and has learned how navigate this territory, finding wild trails, music, poetry and community to be steady guides. She completed the Grief Ritual Training with Francis Weller, and has spent several years in soulful community in weekly meetings with he and a community of people with hearts open to being with grief. She has found that the darkness of grief creates fertile soil for dreams, love and joy and loves to provide a space to be with the fullness of it all. She actively works with parents who have gone through miscarriages, infertility, TFMR, stillbirth, infant loss and SIDS, and welcomes their big broken hearts.
Ryan Malmberg - As an education specialist, Ryan supports students in the Counseling Enriched Program at Santa Rosa High School, where his work is rooted in attunement and belonging. He is also a poet, writing from the embodied ground of grief—where sorrow finds reverence and welcome, where beauty and loss are kindred. For seventeen years, grief has been a companion, offering a tender threshold of entry, ever deepening his son’s presence within his heart. Alongside his wife, Jessica, he now helps tend spaces where sorrow is honored, witness is shared, and the sacred work of grief beckons.
This Retreat May Not Be a Fit If:
If witnessing or sitting alongside others’ intense grief responses (such as tears, anger, or deep sorrow) would feel destabilizing or unsafe for you, this retreat may not be a good fit right now
You are currently in acute crisis and need a higher level of clinical or emergency support
You are not able to engage in a shared group space where others’ grief may look very different from your own
You are seeking a primarily educational, cognitive, or skills-based workshop rather than an experiential, emotional, and relational process
You are attending primarily at the urging of someone else and do not personally feel ready or willing to engage
This retreat is not group therapy, nor is it a substitute for individual mental health care. It is a ritual and relational space designed to honor and get to know our sorrow.
Who This Retreat Is For
This retreat is for those who are living with the grief of pregnancy loss or infant loss and are longing for space to tend to that loss with care, depth, and honesty.
It may be right for you if:
You have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons, infant loss, SIDS
You feel that your grief has not allowed space in your daily life, or been seen and witnessed by others
You are open to grief as a process rather than something to “fix” or move past
You are able to be present with difficult emotions—your own and others’—within a supportive, facilitated container
You value ritual, reflection, and slowing down as ways of listening to grief
You are seeking connection with others who understand this particular kind of loss, without needing to explain or justify it
This retreat welcomes people at many points in their grief journey—whether your loss was recent or years ago—so long as you feel ready to meet it with intention and support.
When we tend the hearth of sorrow in community…
We receive a sense of being held, accepted and understood, in togetherness, with the depth, the confusion, the tenderness, the fear, that comes with this path of loss.
We feel a sense of reverence, of honor and respect for our grief, anger, and love, for how our hearts have grown and broken on this path. This is holy ground.
We receive guidance, from those who have traveled this road. We hear stories, poems, myths, songs, that bear old wisdom passed down over generations, showing us the importance of this territory, and ways to be with it. Understanding is available beyond the scarce, minimal crumbs our culture offers us around being with sadness and death.
We learn practices to help us hold the grief that we can take with us, and continue in our lives
We gain community and a felt sense of being woven into the world with our grief, rather than outcast from it. We are reminded that the life-death-life cycle is a central and essential way of nature, and we are gathered in as a part of it all, with fellow humans and more-than-human beings. We are welcomed and honored for our time and learning in the underworld, which can deeply shift the weight of our grief out of shame and into acceptance.
Frequently Asked Questions
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You can click the button “apply here” and answer the questions. We will get back to you within a week for further communication. If you have further questions, feel free to email at jessica@jessicamalmberg.com, and we can set up a call if needed.
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Yes, partners are welcome and we are so honored to support you both and the unique ways you are grieving.
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Grief is expressed in many forms and we respect the wisdom of your psyche with what it needs. Crying is not in any way required. We hope to offer you support for whatever way your grief shows up in this experience.
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Yes, there will be breaks throughout the retreat and if you need a breather in between our breaks you are welcome to take that space. We hope that participants are able to stay for the full 2 days if possible.
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Yes, this is a non-denominational workshop, and all faiths and paths are welcome, as long as you are able to extend this welcome to others.
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There are 2-3 small rooms that may be rented on site. Snacks will be provided, but not meals. There are refrigerators available to bring your own food for lunch. Let us know if you have food restrictions. We will provide hotel recommendations.
“To speak of sorrow
works upon it,
moves it from its
crouched place barring
the way to and from the soul's hall.”
-Denise Levertov
Perinatal Loss
Perinatal loss is a unique loss. This being, this child, has been a part of you in every way; physical, emotional, and at a soul level, on a daily, hourly basis. They are a part of you. Even if you were not carrying this child, parents’ bodies change as we expect to care for and hold this baby and watch them as they grow. When our little ones leave, we are left with bodies that are geared to providing and receiving this love, care and sweetness; bodies that long for this child in our arms.
Parents are left with an ache that can’t be comforted, and very few people who understand the depth of their suffering. People may treat you as though the loss never happened, eager for you to “move on.”
We are so honored to offer this community space for you to be held, understood and welcomed whole-heartedly in your grief, and in your love for this child. A space to simply be, to express your sorrow and love without fear or shame, and in the ritual space, to experience the alchemy of grieving in community. Your child’s life is exquisitely important, and will always be a golden thread woven into your life.
We all need help learning how to live with this deep sorrow, this intense love, when our child has passed. We are honored to create a space for this.
Past Offerings
Join us on September 17th at 12:30 PM PST (Zoom) and connect with a community of providers who care as deeply as you do.
When a baby dies, families aren’t the only ones grieving. As a nurse, OB, midwife, therapist, acupuncturist, doula, you carry that loss too—often with nowhere to put it. The silence is heavy. The fear of saying the wrong thing is real. And the longing to offer comfort, guidance, and real resources—while holding your own emotions—can feel impossible.
If you’ve ever wondered:
“I don’t know what to say, and I’m terrified of saying the wrong thing.”
“I wish I had something more to offer families than my own broken heart.”
“I feel grief too, but there’s no space for me to process it.”
“I want to know that the families I refer will be held and not abandoned.”
In this one-hour workshop, you’ll discover:
How to sit with grieving families without shutting down or rushing to “fix.”
The biggest mistakes well-intentioned providers make after a perinatal loss—and what to do instead.
A simple framework for guiding families toward healing resources and next steps.
Where you can take your own grief so you feel supported, not isolated, in your practice.
You’ll walk away knowing how to support your patients in their darkest hours and how to lighten the weight you’ve been carrying yourself. And you’ll have a clear referral path for families who need ongoing grief care—so you can trust that they will not be left alone.
Because no family should be abandoned after loss. And no provider should have to hold that grief alone.
Free WorkshopFor Supporting Perinatal Loss
September 17th, 2025 on zoom at 12:30PM - 1:30 PM PST
Past Grief Rituals
Day Long Grief Ritual
Saturday, March 29th, 10am to 6:30pm
For Those Who Have Lost infants or Had a Stillborn Child
We offer big-hearted invitations to you to come join us in a space of welcome and care where love and sorrow for your child can flow, be honored and held.
Location: a lovely location in Sebastopol, CA - details provided when registered.
Cost: $250 for the day
Facilitated by: Micheline Worth, LMFT (707)338-1279 and Jessica Malmberg, LMFT (707)758-2365, both students of Francis Weller
What to expect: We will be providing space for witnessing and holding of this unique and tender loss. With gentleness and attunement, we will be participating in writing exercises, grounding practices, drumming, song and the expression of grief at an altar we create together.
We are skilled at holding deep space for people in their grief, and will create a container to both elicit the grief and hold it in a grounded way. Please feel free to ask any questions at jessica@jessicamalmberg.com or mworthmft@gmail.com.
Jessica Malmberg LMFT is passionate about grief tending. Having walked with the loss of her infant son 16 years ago, she knows the dark realms well and has learned how navigate this territory, finding wild trails, music, poetry and community to be steady guides. She completed the Grief Ritual Training with Francis Weller, and has spent several years in soulful community in weekly meetings with he and a community of people with hearts open to being with grief. She has found that the darkness of grief creates fertile soil for dreams, love and joy and loves to provide a space to be with the fullness of it all.
Micheline Worth, MFT, (LMFT83974) brings 20 years of experience supporting clients through combinations of somatic, expressive arts and eco-therapy. Firmly rooted in the earth, Micheline reminds others of the power and resource available in reawakening the body’s inherent awareness of our primal connection to nature. She has completed Grief Ritual training and has studied with Francis Weller for the past 4 years mining the depths of soul through ritual, community and welcoming the transformative potential of allowing grief to move through one’s being. She is additionally trained in the use of rhythmic drumming to facilitate contact with liminal wisdom and is a certified yoga teacher (RYT200).
