Calabasas Counseling and Grief Recovery Center

07/25/2025

𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩
𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟏𝟐 𝐚𝐭 𝟔:𝟑𝟎 𝐏𝐌 | 𝐈𝐧-𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 | 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐬
8 bi-weekly sessions, $50 per session | Facilitated by Jennifer White, LMFT

If you’ve lost a loved one to su***de, you are not alone.

Join a supportive, compassionate group led by fellow survivor and licensed therapist, 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐋𝐌𝐅𝐓. Jennifer lost her mother, Joanie, to su***de in 2011—an experience that profoundly shaped her path to becoming a therapist specializing in traumatic loss. She brings both clinical expertise and heartfelt understanding to this unique group experience.

Over 8 sessions, group members will:
• Share their stories of loss in a safe and supportive space
• Connect with others navigating grief
• Explore the complexities of su***de loss
• Learn tools for coping and healing

This group is open to adult survivors of su***de loss seeking connection, understanding, and community. Space is limited to 10 members.

𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Calabasas Counseling and Grief Recovery Center
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: Wednesday, June 12 at 6:30 PM
𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞: Bi-weekly (total of 8 sessions)

You do not have to walk this path alone.

To inquire or reserve a spot, please email jennifer@calabasascounseling.com

Learn more by visiting:
https://www.calabasascounseling.com/su***de-loss-survivors-group

***deloss ***degrief

07/22/2025

🕯️If you’ve lost someone to su***de, you’re not alone.

A new in-person support group is forming in Calabasas, CA for survivors of su***de loss. A space to share, connect, and feel understood.

The group will begin once all spots are filled.
To learn more or reserve your place, contact jennifer@calabasascounseling.com 💛

***deLossSupport

06/26/2025

Survivors of Su***de Loss Support Group – Calabasas
Have you—or someone you care about—lost a loved one to su***de?
Grief after su***de is uniquely painful and often misunderstood. You don’t have to carry it alone.

Calabasas Counseling & Grief Recovery is offering an in-person support group for adult su***de loss survivors.
📍 Held in Calabasas
💵 $50 per session and a $75 initial intake fee
🧠 Facilitated by Jennifer White, LMFT — a licensed therapist and fellow survivor

This group provides a compassionate space to connect, share, and find comfort alongside others who truly understand.

The group will begin once all spots are filled. Space is limited.

➡️ Learn more:
https://www.calabasascounseling.com/su***de-loss-survivors-group
📧 Or reach out directly: Jennifer@calabasascounseling.com
Please feel free to share with anyone who may be looking for support.

***deLossSupport

06/17/2025

For this Musical Monday, Jennifer White wrote a short reflection inspired by the song “The Time for Flowers” by Emily Scott Robinson.

It’s a late post this week—but maybe that’s okay. Grief doesn’t follow a schedule, and neither does reflection.

These days, it feels almost impossible to be aware without also feeling grief.

There is so much pain. Every glance at the news brings fresh heartbreak or terror.

Lately, I’ve found myself returning to a song that reminds us: “There are days when despair will win, but the time for flowers will come again.”

This song asks: How do we tend to our own gardens while the world is on fire? And is there any point?

It reminds me that acts of resistance can take many forms. They might look like marching in the streets or standing in protest—but they can also look like raising empathetic children, or learning to regulate your own nervous system.

My personal experiences with loss have instilled in me a deep commitment to cultivating hope. I tend to it like a garden—trusting that the seeds planted today will grow roots strong enough to carry us through both peace and despair.

06/09/2025

🎵 Music Prompt for Grieving Children

Pick a Song for Your Person
"If we were going to play one song that reminds you of your person, or that you think they would have liked, what would it be?"

At our grief center, we’ve had kids and teens introduce us to their person—not just through words, but through music.

🎧 Sometimes it’s a song they used to sing in the car.
🎧 Sometimes it’s a song that feels like their person.
🎧 Sometimes it’s one they imagine their person dancing to.

Music can be a powerful way for children to express love, longing, memory, and identity—especially when talking is hard.

In session, we invite them to choose the song that tells part of their story.
💬 What song would your person be remembered by?

06/05/2025

Survivors of Su***de Loss Support Group

If you’ve lost someone to su***de, this group is a space to connect with others who understand. We’ll meet in person every other week for 8 sessions of gentle, grounded support.

💬 Led by fellow survivor + licensed therapist Jennifer White, LMFT
💵 $50/session
📍In-person in Calabasas, CA

https://www.calabasascounseling.com/su***de-loss-survivors-group

05/26/2025

🎵 Musical Monday: “I Drive Your Truck” – Lee Brice
On this Memorial Day, we honor the ways grief moves—through roads driven, songs played, and stories remembered.
The song “I Drive Your Truck” was inspired by a true story. U.S. Army Sgt. Jared Monti was killed in action in Afghanistan while trying to save a fellow soldier. His father, Paul Monti, told NPR that when he misses his son, he drives Jared’s truck—still dusty from military gear, still filled with traces of him.
That interview led to the creation of this song, now a deeply moving tribute to how grief is carried not just in memory, but in motion.
🎧 Lyric spotlight:
"I drive your truck / I roll every window down / And I burn up / Every back road in this town..."
On days like today, that truck becomes more than a vehicle. It’s a way of staying close. A way of remembering. A way of saying: I’m still here. I’m still holding you.
Who do you still carry with you?
🎶 Drop a song in the comments that helps you feel close.
Feel free to share a song, a name, a story below. This space is for remembering.

CNN's Jake Tapper reports the CMA's 2013 Song of the Year honors the story of a fallen soldier and his father.

05/19/2025

🎶 Musical Mondays 🎶
This week, we’re sitting with Dolly Parton’s ballad “Grass is Blue.”

Read the full reflection by Jennifer White: https://jenniferelainewhite.substack.com/p/grass-is-blue

05/09/2025

As adults, the loss of a parent is often seen as the most expected kind of grief.
It’s rationalized, anticipated, even quietly prepared for.

And yet… it can knock us flat.

💥 Even when we expect it.
💥 Even when we thought we were ready.
💥 Even when we had a “good relationship.”

There’s a disorienting ache in losing the person who remembered your allergies, your stories, the name of your first pet—the one who held the archive of you.

And yet, this grief is often minimized:

👉 “You were lucky to have them so long.”
👉 “They lived a full life.”
👉 “At least they were a good parent.”

All said with good intentions—
But often through someone else’s lens of what “should” be enough.

And what about the grief that isn’t caused by death?

🌀 A parent with dementia
🌀 Chronic illness slowly changing who they are
🌀 A strained or unsafe relationship
🌀 Years of silence, distance, or complete estrangement

This grief isn’t always spoken.
But it lives in the body. In the nervous system. In the moments that catch us off guard.

As Mother’s Day approaches (here in the U.S.), and Father’s Day not far behind—
Let’s make space for the griefs that don’t always get named.

💔 For the ones who miss what once was
💔 For the ones grieving what never was
💔 For the therapists holding space for all of it
💔 For the humans walking through it themselves

Your grief is valid.
You’re not too much.
You’re not alone.

05/08/2025

Our team had the privilege of participating in an incredible couples therapy training led by one of the most skilled couples therapists I’ve known for decades (though I won’t say how many—to spare us both!). Deep gratitude to Barbara Calvi for sharing your insight, wisdom, and depth of experience with us. We’re better clinicians because of you.

02/05/2025

Valentine’s Day & Grief; It’s All About the Relationship
By Jennifer White, M.A., AMFT

The last few weeks have been heavy with grief, from the tragic wildfires in Los Angeles to the devastating plane collision in D.C. and the ongoing political turmoil.

The impact of all of this grief is with me as I look ahead to February and anticipate the pressure of Valentine’s Day that many of my grieving clients feel. Over the years, I have found that Valentine’s Day is a holiday that can sneak up on grievers. Often dismissed as trivial, Valentine’s Day can unexpectedly become a painful reminder of relationship loss. The day focuses on romantic relationships, but can also evoke memories of relationships with parents, siblings, friends and places that we are grieving.

Valentine’s Day is all about relationships, and I’m reminded, so is grief work.

Just as Valentine’s Day can unexpectedly bring grief to the surface, so too can the ways we talk about loss. Often, society focuses on how a person died, rather than the depth of the relationship left behind. However, we miss out on meaningful conversations around loss when we focus too much on how someone died and not enough on the relationship with the person who died. We can learn so much when we are curious about the relationship a griever had with their person. Of course it is important to know that a daughter is grieving her mother who died from cancer, but it is vital to know how that grieving daughter experienced her relationship with her mother. It’s important to know that a wife lost her husband to su***de, but it is equally as important to understand how that wife felt in the relationship with her husband. When we are given the honor of being someone’s companion through their grief it is the relationship that will illuminate the path forward.

For those supporting grievers out in the world it can be as simple as asking someone about their relationship with their loved one. For those of us working with grievers clinically we can focus on relationship timelines or use EMDR to process core beliefs developed within the relationship.

Sometimes, people ask me if my work as a grief therapist is 'depressing.' In reality, it’s the opposite—I have the privilege of hearing about the most meaningful relationships in people’s lives.Every case is as unique as the relationship and while treatment might be informed by the way their loved one died, it is much more important to me to uncover what the relationship meant to the person who continues to live. I often get to hear stories filled with love, and even when love, safety, or security were absent, the relationship still holds deep meaning. As we leave behind this painful January and enter a month that celebrates relationships, I find myself picturing families returning to the places where their homes once stood. I wonder: What was their relationship with their home? With the possessions inside? With the community around them?

I’m holding in mind the touching tribute video created by figure skaters at The Skating Club of Boston, many of whom lost loved ones in the D.C. plane crash. The video is a powerful expression of the surviving skaters’ relationship with those they lost and their community.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, society encourages us to focus on love and relationships. Let’s remember to do the same for those who are grieving.

https://www.calabasascounseling.com/resources/valentines-day-grief-its-all-about-the-relationship

01/28/2025

Hi Everyone! Comfort Zone Camp is holding an online free support session for anyone 10 years and older impacted by the recent California fires.
Here's the info: Hi California!
On behalf of the California Regional Advisory Committee, we want to extend our love and support to all our California volunteers impacted by the devastating fires. These events have deeply affected our community, and true to the CZC spirit, we want you to know you’re not alone. I, too, lost my home in the Palisades Fire and am navigating this uncertainty alongside you.
Our incredible CZC CEO, Lynne Hughes, reached out immediately, offering her unwavering support and a desire to help. As a result, CZC is hosting a free virtual support group for anyone affected, scheduled for February 8th, from 9:00–11:30 AM PST. Open to adults and children ages 10 and up, this session provides a safe space to share experiences, connect with others facing similar challenges, and receive guidance on healing. THE LINK TO REGISTER IS HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSckuFaRKPRz4Q1DKTZoUKq186qbO3iEqZ6oUVRzg-Aj_UlT1Q/viewform
Our goal is to support you during this difficult time. Please let me know if the CZC California RAC can help in any way, and share this information with anyone who may benefit from this support. We hope to provide help and healing to as many as possible.
For those wishing to volunteer at this virtual training, please email Mariah Leonard directly. Mleonard@comfortzonecamp.org
With love and solidarity,
The CZC California Regional Advisory Committee

Saturday, February 8, 2025 | 9am - 11:30am Pacific (12pm - 2:30pm Eastern) California is experiencing unprecedented levels of life grief and loss. This program will provide opportunities to share some of the struggles we are going through due the California wildfires, offer support, and provide tips...