grief support counseling
15 State Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05602
Mollie McElroy (she/her)
grief support counseling
Grief and death experiences have been rites of passage in my life.
Each has ushered me into a deeper appreciation for what it means to be alive.
My first deathwork experience was attending to the death of my second mother, Linda, in 2013.
It was my first green burial experience and it awakened a fierce courage for me. I felt a calling to turn and face her death in order to go through.
Today, I walk alongside my sister, Jocelyn, as we grieve the sudden loss of her most beloved partner, Jonas, in March 2023. It has been my honor to witness the depth of Jocelyn's love in the magnitude of her grief. To attend to the mystery of this incredible loss with wonder and heartbreak.
I was with my dearest dog, Brighde, in the final moments of her earthly life. Her death and dying taught me so much about acceptance and presence -- she woke me to let me know it was time, we laid down together and I could feel she was not afraid to let go. I am grateful every day to have loved her.
Turning towards grief and loss, letting it shape you and learning to move forward with it, is profound; it is sacred and precious.
My Training & Frameworks
All of my experiences with change and grief, death and non-death related losses, have brought with them secret gifts of liberation and healing. These experiences have shaped my curiosity and inspired me to deepen my understanding of the world around me. The frameworks that guide my practice come from my life experiences and the wisdom of my teachers.
I am a student of trauma and resilience and I thank my teachers, Abbi Jaffe and Amanda Franz of The Everything Space, for their incredible wisdom and creation of the Growing Resilience: Becoming Trauma Informed training. Frameworks: safety and choice.
I am an anti-racist student of Resmaa Menakem and participated in a My Grandmother's Hands study group, led by Abbi Jaffe, working to deconstruct white supremacy using somatic practices and co-creating embodied liberation. Frameworks: abolitionism and anti-perfectionism.
I am a dedicated meditation student of Lama Rod Owens and I have a
sincere desire that all beings get free. Frameworks: intention and liberation.
I apprenticed with Starhawk and completed the Earth Activist Training Permaculture Design Certificate course in 2011 and studied with Dave Jacke to complete a Permaculture Teacher Training in 2013. Frameworks: observation and ease.
I am a registered psychotherapist with the Vermont Board of Allied Mental Health.
I have a bachelor's degree in Sociology from West Chester University of Pennsylvania
and a Deaf Studies Minor.
I completed an 111-hour Village Deathcare Citizen training with Anne-Marie Keppel in 2023.
I have been a facilitator for over a decade and draw on my experience as an environmental educator, team building instructor and Nonviolent Communication trainer; as well as my experience as Conductor and Co-Director for the Central Vermont Playback Theatre troupe.
I am constantly reading, listening, taking workshops and classes led by revolutionary leaders in their fields. I feel inspired by the work of adrienne maree brown, Andrea Gibson, Clementine Morrigan, Francis Weller, Martín Prechtel, Gabor Maté, Brené Brown and Pema Chödrön.
Every day is a new opportunity to learn something new and share it with others.
I am a queer, sober, cis-woman living in what is known as Worcester, Vermont on unceded Abenaki territory in the so-called United States.