"Before I started the Rising program, my grief was as a foreign concept that I avoided at all costs. I started seeing the toll it was taking on myself and my relationships. Rising came into my life at the perfect time. It allowed me to face grief and to see it in a different light. I expected Rising to provide me with room to talk about grief, which it did, but I didn’t expect all of the different perspectives on grief that helped to shape my understanding of its complexities. 
Rising provided me with tools, resources and different perspectives. I’ve learned how to take the tools and apply them in my everyday life when confronting grief. 

If I had any advice for someone contemplating taking this program with Melinda, please listen to your intuition and your body. If you need community,  a space to talk, or a space to allow yourself to grieve, Rising might be that perfect space for you too."

-Jess

"I am a little over halfway through Rising, and I can already feel that many limiting beliefs and stories I’ve believed for years are shifting in beautiful ways within me. Melinda and the incredible Rising participants have transformed how I experience grief and have taught me that expression and community are healing. I feel so much more open, connected and empowered because of Rising, and joining was one of the best choices I’ve ever made to honor myself. 

Melinda leads with endless compassion and has the powerful gift of truly allowing and encouraging everyone to show up exactly as they are. She creates a space through Rising where people can safely and openly look at and share their most painful losses and questions without any judgment. This program does not ask you to fix anything. Instead it gives you the chance to be seen, supported and accepted as you are. This is a rare opportunity, and it has been transformational.

I came into this program relating to grief as something I wanted nothing to do with and that I believed I was bad at. And I will leave with the understanding that grief shows up in my life in many forms, is an ongoing process, and is not something I can do wrong. I will also leave with the ability to much more effectively listen to my body, create and maintain boundaries, and prioritize self care and gratitude. 

Rising is full of so much honesty, wisdom, acceptance, support, kindness, respect and laughter, and I am incredibly excited for others to have the opportunity to benefit from this program. Experiencing a space where there is no right or wrong way to be, where people with wildly different stories find connection, and where grief and joy exist openly at the same time is such a gift. I would encourage anyone who is curious to sign up for Rising - Melinda is an actual real life angel who will change your life." 

-Melanie 

“Rising was recommended to me by a friend who was halfway through the program. I’ve never participated in anything like it before which put me a little out of my comfort zone but I was desperately searching for a space to grieve. When I first started Rising, my mom was about 6 months into her treatment of Stage 4 bile duct cancer. I’m 27 years old and was the first among my friends to become a caregiver to a parent.

Since I was the first, I felt like I had no one to turn to who could understand everything I was juggling at once. I turned to books about death and grief which was helpful in some ways. I also leaned into therapy. As helpful as my therapist was, I needed more. I needed to explore my grief intentionally and with someone who specialized in it.

After my first call with the group, I walked away from it feeling such relief. Relief to be heard by people who finally understood my grief. Relief to hear I wasn’t the only one. Before Rising, I had been using all my energy to not fall apart from my grief. I was trying to be all the things, for all the people. I was trying to be the same person I was before my mom got sick. Rising has shown me that this grief has changed me, forever, and that’s okay. So much life has happened since I started Rising. I got married to my college sweetheart and I became an Aunt. Sharing these big moments, and all the smaller moments as well, has been such a blessing for me.”

-Melissa

“Grief had always been something I heard about until it hit me like a train at the start of 2022. I felt lost, overwhelmed, and I was carrying a huge weight that I couldn’t put down. I saw Melinda’s post about Rising and instantly knew that’s where I needed to be. Rising gives you the space and time to truly process and learn to live with your grief. Without Rising, I would still be pushing my grief away, hurting myself in the process. I’ve gained so many invaluable skills on how to be present with it and use it to be a more honest and wholesome person. I’m so grateful for this experience. Melinda is incredible and she facilitates such a warm, vulnerable, intimate space for everyone involved. I couldn’t recommend Rising more. There’s nothing else like it.”

-Lilli

“I don’t know that I’d be standing or that I would be able to navigate my loss with any form of grace if it were not for Melinda’s grief coaching. This group has given me a safe space to evolve and be true to myself on this crazy, emotional rollercoaster. As a coach, I am a huge proponent of working with other coaches because we can’t see ourselves, but I’m also highly sensitive about whom I choose to work with. Not all coaches walk the walk. I’m happy to say that Melinda definitely does.”

-Diana

When I joined Rising I wasn't sure that processing grief in a group setting would be fulfilling for me. When I pictured a grief group, I pictured a re-traumatising experience where the space was taken up rehashing the darkest parts of grief over and over again. Rising isn't like that. While there were moments that I was invited to share a difficult truth about my grief, it was all done with the intention of unearthing and releasing the harder parts of grief that can make it hard to embrace. I appreciated the intentional way Melinda crafted the journey. I was invited to explore myself and my grief through many lenses, and through many different exercises that I am positive I would not have done on my own . There is something powerful in moving through this process in community. Although my group was not formed around a particular kind of loss, we found many throughlines in our experience. I am so happy that I dedicated the past 6 months to this journey. I've come to accept that grief is a powerful teacher, and I am proud of the person I am becoming by listening to my grief and finding community within it. 

-Kayla

“If you are looking for support in your grief journey, I highly recommend Rising with Melinda. She’s been extremely helpful in creating a safe and sacred space for women to gather and express their grief. My own journey was really sparked in 2011 and I wish I had the guidance then to help me navigate the waves of grief that have come since. But I have it now and it’s been soooo amazing and helped me understand grief in ways I didn’t before! I truly don’t know how I’d be navigating my life right now without her help.”

-Mary