Take It To The River
White River, Noblesville, IN
This weekend my practice colleagues and myself had the distinct pleasure to walk through grief with one another. As a practice we recently have recognized the need for community and are building intentional spaces for it. As a person I too am seeking community in my own change. The need and desire for community is a helpful and necessary ingredient in healing and growth.
This particular, and virgin voyage into grief as a practice and community was small and mighty, initial and unknown. Aimee led us as the group aficionado of the practice. So, there, on a beautiful Saturday morning a gathering of vulnerable therapists and members of the community came and engaged to reach a piece of grief inside ourselves. To look in from the outside one would see varied ages of people and roles all vulnerable and slightly awkward as we walked through the experience.
Aimee led us through reflection and wrote and shared significant words, set our intention, and put us into action as we cut springs and tied them together with our own personal words of letting go. On a small piece of paper I decided to let go of the loving connection I miss so dearly and to symbolically let it drift from my hopeful heart. I have held on to a person in my life long after all evidence pointed to it being a failing and expired effort.
As I carried my sprigs and the sentiment of love that has nearly faded and my own acceptance of that in my hand we all walked in silence to the river. Fortunately for us, there is an actual river not far from the practice and we were able to walk down to release our grievances, in an eco friendly manner mind you. As I moved through the neighborhood I explored the sweet smells of spring mixed with the bitterness of letting go. To love and let go of the hope of it ever existing again is certainly bittersweet. When I tossed my message, I made sure to toss it far enough so that the current would take it away. Not wanting it to linger, but instead to be carried quickly out of the view of the shreds of hope that still clung to my heart and possibly may always.
Grief and grief work is presented in many different forms and is given many different models and language. In a recent research study published by the Educational Publishing Foundation, researchers found when looking into the work of grief in therapy; it has been revealed that across modalities effective grief work includes finding emotions, engaging in an experience, and the importance of creating and finding meaning in the process (Hotary et al., 2026).
If you find yourself shedding a version of you and entering into a new way of being, losing a love, releasing a friendship, a part of your child self, or the loss of a person, as well as all the other means of grief, don’t be afraid to join us when we offer this again. You too can take it to the river.
~ Kristin Morris, MA, LMHCA
Hotary, N., Johnson, S., Frydman, S., Inkeles, S., Liu, Y., Szpilzinger, M., & Katz, M. (2026). Empty chairs and open wounds: Comparing three expert therapists’ approaches to grief across theoretical orientations. Practice Innovations. https://doi-org.forward.marian.edu/10.1037/pri0000320
