About Me

Kelsey Sawyer MA, BC-DMT, RYT-200

Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist

Certified Grief Yoga® Teacher

Certified Grief and Loss Provider

Hi! My name is Kelsey Sawyer and I am the founder of Riverbend Grief Movement LLC. I have been a dancer my whole life and realized how healing dance and movement could be for grief at a young age after experiencing multiple deaths of important people in my life. This led me on a path to becoming a Board Certified Dance Movement Therapist and Yoga Teacher who specializes in grief, to not only integrate these losses myself, but connect with and support others who are grieving in a more embodied way.

Experience

I graduated with a Masters in Mental Health Counseling and specialization in Dance/Movement Therapy from Lesley University in 2019. Since then, I have worked as a youth program manager and therapist for children's grief programs across the country including The Healing Center in Seattle WA, which is where my professional grief experience began. I had the opportunity to train at Dougy Center's International Summer Institute in 2019 and have completed certifications in Grief Yoga® with Paul Denniston, Comprehensive Grief & Loss with Claire Bidwell Smith, and Mother Loss with Hope Edelman and Claire Bidwell Smith. I currently have the honor of sharing my Flowing with Grief practice with participants at Claire Bidwell Smith's In Person Conscious Grieving Retreats in Mill Valley, CA and In Person Grief & Loss Training in LA. I have also had the opportunity to share my passion for this work at the Safe Crossings Foundation Northwest Conference on Childhood Grief on multiple occasions, and most recently presented at the 2024 PESI Grief Summit on grief in the body and the physicality of loss. I am a proud member of the National Alliance for Children's Grief , American Dance Therapy Association and Yoga Alliance where I continue to learn and develop my skills as a therapist and yoga teacher.

As a yoga teacher, I have trained with teachers and mentors who align with my values both on and off the mat. I completed my 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training with Tiffany Cagwin and Ame Wren through Boston Yoga School in 2016, and Part 1 of my Yin Yoga Teacher Training with Caitlin Rose Kenney in 2021. I owe a lot of my embodied awareness and development as a human being to these individuals, and am constantly in awe of the work that they do to make this a more holistic, inclusive, and connected environment to practice life (and yoga) in.

All of these experiences have prepared and inspired me to open up my own private practice and continue this meaningful work of linking movement and expression to grief. When I'm not "therapist Kelsey" I like to go for walks in nature, spend time with the important people in my life, move my body, and enjoy a nice cup of tea.

I couldn't be happier to begin creating a supportive and informed grief community and I look forward to flowing and connecting with you!