When: 5 Tuesdays, Starting March 3rd

Time: 6-7:30pm

Where: Online, Zoom Link Provided with Reservation

Suggested donation: $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds. 

To RSVP or learn more: Email hilaryr@liberationinstitute.org

The pain of grief can be indescribable and all-consuming. Perhaps that’s what makes writing about it so powerful. It is deeply humbling; returning to something again and again, knowing we can never quite capture all the loss and all the love that’s there.

In this virtual 5-session writing workshop, we will build an intimate container to hold the wildness of our grief. We’ll write and share our losses, regrets, and old wounds. No writing experience is required. More than anything this is a no-pressure listening space where we can reach from the most vulnerable places within us, and be seen and held in community. In order to preserve the intimacy of this container, space is limited and registration is required to attend. If you feel called, go ahead and reserve your spot soon. We can’t wait to be with you.

About the Facilitator: Hilary Rappaport is a licensed psilocybin facilitator and counselor trainee, working through the lenses of transpersonal psychology, somatic experience, and Internal Family Systems. She offers accessible, heart-centered support for people moving through grief, recovery, and life transitions. Her work centers compassion, presence, and warmth, creating space for people to reconnect with themselves and their innate creative wisdom.Hilary is a therapist trainee supervised by Elizabeth Hoke, License #1440. 

When: 6 Weeks, starting in February (exact date TBD)

Time: TBD

Where: Online, Google Meet

Suggested donation: $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To RSVP or learn more: Email laylaf@liberationinstitute.org

Beating the Winter Blues is a structured, skill-based group therapy program aimed at addressing symptoms commonly associated with seasonal mood changes, including low energy, decreased motivation, and increased stress. Participants will learn cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness-based strategies to enhance emotional regulation and insight, improve daily functioning, and foster healthier coping patterns. Offers the opportunity to develop strategies for managing stress, self-doubt and healthier boundaries while building skills like confidence, trust and self-awareness in a supportive space. This group provides a safe, collaborative environment to build resilience and promote overall well-being during the winter months. 

About the Facilitator: Layla Field is a graduate student at Pepperdine University and a member of a small rural community in Oregon, where she resides with her family. As a mother, stepmother, and pet parent, Layla values connection, empathy, and growth—principles that guide her work in group therapy settings. She is passionate about creating a supportive and inclusive space where participants feel safe to share their experiences, build meaningful connections, and develop practical skills to enhance self-awareness, insight, and effective communication. Layla approaches group facilitation with warmth and intention, empowering individuals to learn from both personal reflection and shared group experiences. Supervised by Shelly Stratton LCSW #7252.

When: Tuesdays, starting Feb 17th 2026

Time: Tuesday’s from 6:30 to 8pm

Where: In person, address provided with RSVP.

Suggested donation: $10 per session, or what you can afford.  No one turned away for lack of funds. Money given helps people receive mental health services at Liberation Institute one turned away for lack of funds. 

To join contact: jean-paul@liberationinstitute.org or lizab@liberationinstitute.org

Meditation is the practice of being present with our experience and becoming familiar with our essential clarity and well-being. With many responsibilities in our lives, our thoughts and emotions often move very quickly. Through meditation, we can cultivate stability in our attention and begin to notice moments where we can pause and choose, rather than react automatically out of habit. This awareness opens new possibilities in our inner life, our relationships, and our work.

Meditation practice directly supports counseling by helping us recognize thoughts and emotions as they arise, notice patterns over time, and remain present during challenging moments. By strengthening our ability to pause and reflect, meditation makes it easier to make intentional choices and carry insights from counseling into everyday life.

In these 4-week groups, we will meet once a week to learn about meditation and to practice together. These groups will be ongoing; participants may come for one 4-week period or may continue through multiple group series. The first 4-week group will begin on February 17, 2026. Please commit to attending all four sessions. 

Facilitators:
Liza Baer is a Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She completed a traditional three-year, three-month retreat in the Shangpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism at a retreat center near Goldendale, WA, in 2018. She then taught as an Associate Lama in Ashland, OR, for 4 years, and served as the Executive Director of a center in NE Portland for 1.5 years. She is now a graduate student in counseling at Prescott College and a counseling intern at Liberation Institute. She has a background in ecology, botany, and multiple healing modalities. 

Jean-Paul is a long-time practitioner of yoga and meditation. He spent a year living and working at the Dhamma Dena meditation retreat center in Joshua Tree. His practice has been a central support in his recovery and a steady resource for presence and self-inquiry. He brings decades of experience as a musician and sound-based artist, with a focus on leading sound baths, collective improvisation, and deep listening practices. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in counseling at the University of the Cumberlands and is an intern at Liberation Institute.

When: Starting Six Sundays – February 8-March 15

Time:  4-6 PM

Where: In-Person – Address provided with RSVP

Length of Each Session: 2 hours

Format: In person

Suggested donation: Suggested donation of $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To RSVP or learn more: Email: tu@liberationinstitute.org

Group Description

Supporting a trans teen can be both beautiful and challenging. This group offers a confidential, affirming space for parents to process emotions, share experiences, and learn from one another. With mindfulness practices and a liberation-centered lens, we focus on presence, curiosity, and cultivating trust in yourself as a parent, and your kid as a human.

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 About the Facilitator:
Sarah-Luella (ella) Baker (they/she) is a queer, gender-nonconforming parent and Registered Somatic Movement Therapist/Educator with decades of experience in conscious parenting, anti-bias education, and somatic healing. In collaboration with the Liberation Institute, Sarah-Lu offers this group in the spirit of embodied, compassionate support for parents of trans and gender-expansive teens, grounded in nervous-system care, relational attunement, and deep respect for each family’s path. Sarah-Lu is a graduate student in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling at Naropa University, and is supervised at the Liberation Institute by Brad Byrum, license #T2185.

#peoplehelpeingpeople #love #impact #liberation #community #mentalhealth #portland #oregon #virtual #support #group #joy #purpose #resistance #parents


To RSVP or learn more: Email tu@liberationinstitute.org

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When: Starting Feb. 5 first 3 Thursday’s in February and March

Time:  7 – 9 pm

Where: Address Provided with Reservation

Length of Each Session: 120 minutes

Format: In person

Suggested donation: Suggested donation of $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To RSVP or learn more: Email: genevieve@liberationinstitute.org

Group Description

 This six-week grief group offers a gentle, supportive container for being with the experience of relationship loss and the many emotions that may arise, including sadness, anger, shame, fear, loneliness, relief, longing, confusion, and love. We will draw on grief wisdom, grief practices, and look to grief elders to support our understanding, expression, and the integration of our experience. Art-making, shared reflection, and grief ritual are some of the practices we will explore together as we honor what has been lost and metabolize grief together. Participation is always by choice and at your own pace, with care taken to honor personal boundaries, needs, and what feels most supportive for you.

Being in grief together can soften the sense of aloneness that often accompanies loss, as shared presence supports connection with oneself and with others through the experience of compassionate witnessing. Together, we will create space to honor endings, hold complex emotions with care, and support one another in integrating loss and finding a way forward—carrying what matters, releasing what no longer serves, and gently reconnecting with clarity, self-trust, and hope.

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 About the Facilitator:
Genevieve Layman is a therapist trainee supervised by Elizabeth Hoke, License #1440. She brings a multidisciplinary, heart-centered approach to her work, shaped by her background as a horticultural therapist, award-winning author, and longtime student of Nonviolent Communication. Genevieve is currently completing training in Somatic Experiencing, with a focus on nervous system awareness, embodiment, and trauma-informed care. Genevieve especially enjoys facilitating groups, where participants can experience belonging, connection, and relational healing in real time with real people. Her work is informed by a deep relationship with the natural world and a belief in the wisdom of the body, mutual empathy, and the healing potential of authentic human connection.

#peoplehelpeingpeople #love #impact #liberation #community #mentalhealth #portland #oregon #virtual #support #group #joy #purpose #resistance 


To RSVP or learn more: Email genevieve@liberationinstitute.org

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