Below is list of grief support programs and teachers I cannot, in good faith, recommend—and why. This list is updated on an as-needed basis.

Want to submit a program or coach to this list? Get in touch:

Francis Weller (The Wild Edge of Sorrow)

In September 2026, two Substack articles (here and here) reported at least two instances of Francis Weller abusing his power and sexually harming women. While he has not yet made a public statement responding to these events, he has participated in an “accountability process” where the survivors were not present and sent an attorney after at least one survivor after she spoke publicly.

My position aligns with The Grief Witch, the author of one of the Substack posts published in September 2026:

“If we are going to create spaces where people can heal alongside one another, across privileges and power dynamics, our teachers must be transparent about their shadows, especially when they have abused their power and especially when they carry privileges that their students do not. If we are going to create healing spaces where we ask survivors to hold complexity for the cycles of abuse, harm and abuse must be made transparent when it happens.”

This is what I wrote about comforting grievers as a person who holds a position of power in my book Of Course I’m Here Right Now:

“If you, as a representative, don’t offer genuine comfort in your larger organization, forget helping grieving people one-on-one. For example, it feels incredibly false to be comforted by the president of a large-scale corporation if said corporation insists that a griever return to work after a paltry three-day bereavement leave. If you truly want to comfort others, be willing to examine yourself and the institution(s) you’re tied to and bring about meaningful change where needed. Grievers are fantastic bullshit detectors and won’t stand to be comforted by a person or organization that is disingenuous or is actively causing them harm.”

GriefShare / DivorceShare

GriefShare and DivorceShare are two programs created by Church Initiative, a nondenominational nonprofit Christian organization. While many grievers report them as helpful, I do not recommend them for two reasons. First, because Church Initiative’s Statement of Faith indicates that “marriage is a sacred covenant between one biological male and one biological female.” I’m a queer person who honors the sexuality, gender identity, and losses of all people, including LGBTQIA+ folks. And second, because many grievers wrestle with questions regarding god and faith after loss. I can imagine that programs that designed around Evangelical Christian convictions are generally discouraging and harmful to grieving people whose losses include doubt, anger at god, or a total loss of faith.

Statement of Faith from Church Initiative, the founding organization behind GriefShare and DivorceShare | Credit: churchinitiative.org

Jennifer Masters (The Wisdom of My Grief)

In March 2025, Jennifer Masters stole my writing and passed it off as her own in order to rank higher on Google and attract grief coaching clients. This is not only illegal and in violation of copyright law, but also deeply unethical—not to mention bad karma! You can view a comparison of our two blogs here. In October 2025, I confirmed with Megan Devine (founder of Refuge in Grief) that Jennifer ripped off her writing and claimed it as her own as well.

The Grief Recovery Method®

While I was certified as a Grief Recovery Specialist® in 2016 and practiced The Grief Recovery Method® for a few years afterward, I discovered in 2020 that John W. James, one of the original founders of The Grief Recovery Institute®, was a vehement Trump supporter, racist, and bigot. (Click the links for screenshots; more screenshots here, here, here, and here.)

While James died in 2021, the Institute® continues to “stay out of politics,” aligning itself with the (allegedly) apolitical values of organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)—despite the fact that AA’s origins are rooted in Evangelical Christianity and, as of 2024, most of its members are white.

When I pushed back and highlighted the Institute®’s failure to outspokenly support marginalized grievers, my posts in the Grief Recovery Specialists® Facebook group were deleted and my emails to the Grief Recovery Institute®’s president, Cole W. James (John W. James’s son) went unanswered.

As a queer person and the wife of an immigrant, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend anyone seek support from The Grief Recovery Method® or its certified Specialists®. And, if I, as a white woman received this kind of treatment from the organization, I can only imagine how BIPOC folks’ perceived “pushback” is dealt with.

While its structure may seem welcoming and harmless on the surface, its leadership does not have the wellbeing of all grievers in mind. It does not educate Specialists® on their privilege and herds all grieving people through its recovery model with organizationally-guided consideration for how factors like gender, race, age, ability, sexual orientation, and economic status impact grief.

I stopped practicing The Grief Recovery Method® and took down my YouTube video promoting it (with more than 10K views) in 2020. I have since heard from more than half a dozen former Specialists® who share the same beliefs about the organization and discourage fellow grief practitioners from being certified—and fellow grievers from seeking it out as a source of support.

The Grief Recovery Method® is not under-resourced. Its books and materials have been translated into dozens of languages and it put considerable effort into scaling its programming to offer online support during the pandemic. It charges Specialists® a set amount to be trained in its Method® and, at the time I left, also charges Specialists® a monthly fee to use its online platform and directory. It’s entirely plausible that The Grief Recovery Method® could put both money and energy into expanding its work to include marginalized groups—including paying marginalized people to design and teach new curricula.

There is a wide-open path to doing better on behalf of grievers everywhere. The Grief Recovery Method® has chosen not to take it.

You can read The Grief Recovery Method®’s June 2020 email to all Specialists® here, as well as my initial response, president Cole W. James’s response, and my reply, which received no answer.

A September 2020 post I made in the Certified Grief Recovery Specialists Facebook group, along with founder John W. James’s response that I’ve “gotten lost in intellect.” The posts were deleted from the group in less than five hours. | Credit: Shelby Forsythia