Chaplain & Grief Counseling Services

On this page, you can learn more about Chaplain & Grief Counseling Services and how Rev. Jess may be of support to you in times of crisis or difficulty. For those struggling with grief, loss, or spiritual crisis, chaplains and grief counselors offer unique support: bearing witness and coming alongside each individual’s personal journey of grief, including your unique expressions of spirituality and complexities in your specific healing process.

I work with individuals, families, and groups that are experiencing grief or loss. I also offer ritual services and can serve as celebrant at funerals, officiate wedding ceremonies, and offering pre-marriage spiritual guidance.

Individual, Family and Community Chaplain Services

Meeting with a chaplain can be a helpful and healing resource as we journey through the pain, trauma, and grief that is inevitable in life.  As a chaplain, I offer a calm presence and non-judgemental support, coming alongside you as we explore your pain and healing process, together.  My personal style of chaplaincy is grounded in deep listening, mindfulness, and presence. If desired, we can also incorporate time in nature and guided meditations.

A Chaplain may be a beneficial part of your support system if you are:

  • Bereaved or experiencing grief and loss
  • Experiencing a sudden death in the family
  • Living with a terminal illness,  or nearing end-of-life
  • Facing a new diagnosis
  • Struggling with emotional regulation
  • Experiencing chronic pain
  • Struggling with coming out as LGBTQIA+ or other family/societal issues around sexuality, gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation
  • Questioning your spiritual path or journey, including those who have experienced religious or spiritual trauma
  • Supporting someone you love who is experiencing any of the above

I have specific experience and sensitivity to the unique needs of the following communities:

  • LGBTQIA+ / queer / transgender / gender nonconforming community
  • Those who identify as “Spiritual but not Religious”
  • Cancer patients and their families
  • Youth and young adults
  • Veterans
  • Those facing the loss of a parent or sibling
  • Those who have experienced sexual trauma or abuse
  • Those facing loss of a loved one by suicide, or experiencing suicidal ideation themselves
  • Schools and classrooms facing crisis or loss

What does a session look like?

Just like people, each session is unique. I work intuitively and collaboratively with you to uncover what may be most beneficial for you on any given day. Our time together will always include deep listening and a calm and peaceful presence. Sessions can also include breath-based and somatic resilience skillbuilding, time together in nature, mindfulness of body sensations and feelings, working together to discover root causes of suffering, facilitated guided meditation practices, rituals, or ceremonies. Each session will depend on what collectively we feel may best serve the moment. Sessions are confidential, unless there is a communicated risk of immediate harm to oneself or another, in which case, we may need additional support. In these cases, my goal would be to make any additional necessary contacts on behalf of a client with the full consent of the client.

How long are sessions?

You can book a 20-25 minute consult for no cost, to help determine if you think working together would be helpful for you. After that, we generally work in 1 hour sessions, however if you have a longer need or shorter time constraint, please let me know in advance and I will do my best to accommodate. I can meet with individuals, couples, families, small or larger groups, including classrooms and schools. Please specify the size of group in your inquiry and we can discuss what structure is best.

Follow-up appointments may be between 60-120 minutes, or longer, as recommended and depending on needs of care. For end-of-life support, please read the death doula page. 

Where do we meet?

Due to COVID-19, I am currently available for ZOOM and Phone Visits, plus limited in-person sessions in the Seattle area, unless otherwise arranged. I offer at-home visits or travel in the Seattle area to businesses, hospitals, nursing homes, community centers, youth centers, schools, or hospice centers. We can also meet at a park to incorporate the healing resources of nature – these are often very powerful sessions.

How do I schedule?

  • In an emergency, please call 9-1-1
  • For other sudden crisis, end-of-life support, or bereavement, I will respond as quickly as I am able, and it may take me up to 24-48 hours to respond, especially if I am with another care recipient.

Paying for your session

Since Chaplain Services and spiritual care are not yet covered by insurance, your generosity is appreciated. If you are paying for a session as a gift, please indicate the name of the person you are supporting and offer payment through our Donation page. Payment can be made via Square or through Venmo, CashApp, PayPal, Cash, or Check at time of service.

Note of Understanding

While chaplaincy is not therapy, it can offer therapeutic benefits. Chaplains can be a part of your psycho-spiritual-emotional healthcare team, and work wonderfully in tandem with other services. With this understanding, please note that I am not a licensed therapist, psychologist or mental healthcare professional, and my services do not replace the care or advice of psychologists, psychiatrists, or other healthcare professionals. As a chaplain, I will exercise my best professional efforts, skills and care to support you along your path of healing. Keep in mind that these efforts are expressions of my own unique lived experiences, training, expertise, and opinions. ~ Rev. Jess

What is a Chaplain, Anyway?

Chaplains today are of all faith traditions, including secular (no religious affiliation), humanist, atheist, and agnostic, and are trained to provide compassionate non-denominational and interfaith support to diverse populations. Chaplains provide emotional and psycho-social-spiritual support–regardless of religious affiliation–to people experiencing crisis, trauma, injury, illness, grief, and/or loss. Often Chaplains refer to this work as “coming alongside” others, providing ministry of presence without an agenda, help one uncover their own meaning and path toward healing.

Chaplains can have a variety of interests and experience including hospital, hospice and end-of-life care, bereavement, prison ministry, military and veteran support, mental health and addiction, youth support, LGBTQ support, ecological chaplaincy, and more. Most Chaplains are based in a community rather than a particular church, temple, or synagogue. Depending on their personal standing as clergy in a faith tradition, Chaplains may be ordained to provide specific religious services and ceremonies. Chaplains work in interdisciplinary teams with other support personnel and collaborate with local clergy of various faiths.

From a Socially Engaged Buddhist perspective and from a systems perspective, Socially Engaged Chaplaincy also includes efforts toward transforming suffering that is induced by structural violence, which affects individuals, communities, the environment, and the world.