Joyful Sorrow Grief Coaching was founded by Lily Crowder in 2025 to help individuals transform their grief into a life filled with meaning, healing, and joy.

Lily specializes in guiding people through the complexities of grief, offering support for those facing:

- Child loss

- Loss to suicide and other stigmatized losses

- Grief in children and teens

- End-of-life transitions for individuals and families

- Community education on supporting others through grief

A Personal Journey of Healing

Lily is no stranger to loss. In 2017, she lost her mother to cancer. In the years that followed, she also lost her brother to addiction and, most profoundly, her son, Ezekiel, to suicide in 2021. Through these devastating losses, Lily found herself walking a path of deep grief and profound transformation.

These experiences have shaped Lily’s approach to grief coaching, as she now works with others to help them process their own loss/losses and embrace healing.

The Meaning Behind "Joyful Sorrow"

The name Joyful Sorrow came to Lily in a vision after Ezekiel’s death. In it, her son handed her a cup inscribed with the words “JOYFUL SORROW.” This image represents the paradox Lily has learned to embrace: living with both joy and pain—the both/and of life. It’s a reminder that even amidst our deepest sorrow, joy and healing can coexist.

A Path Toward Meaning and Healing

Through her personal journey and professional training, Lily has developed tools and strategies to help others navigate their grief in a meaningful way. She believes that while grief can bring suffering, it is also a doorway to deeper compassion, joy, and a richer life.

Lily is passionate about helping others heal and transform, witnessing them face their grief with honesty, courage, and strength.

Grief is the price of love.

We grieve because we love; this is a gift. You hurt this much because you love so much.

Grief is also not meant to cause prolonged suffering, we can, over time, learn to move into meaning and healing as we develop a muscle around our grief.

We can be free from suffering, even though we may always carry the sadness of loss. We can know a deeper, more profound sense of compassion and joy in this “after” of our lives. This is the paradox we learn to embrace through the wisdom of grieving well.

*JOYFUL SORROW GRIEF COACHING does not discriminate against race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation. All are welcome here.

1.) Individual 1:1 sessions:

Most sessions are conducted via Zoom, with some in-person options available. These 1:1 sessions are designed to create a safe, private space for you to share and process your grief. Lily will guide you through educational insights and provide practical tools to help you move through your loss in a sustainable and meaningful way. There is no agenda to fix or rush your grief—every emotion and experience is valid and important to you, the griever. These sessions are meant to foster healing as you learn to move forward with your loss with hope and loving support.

2.) Family sessions:

Family sessions are typically held in your home and focus on supporting the family unit in the early stages of grief. These sessions provide educational support and guidance to help families navigate their collective grief and foster healing together.

3.) Group education sessions:

These sessions are presented in a group format, incorporating discussion and grief processing within a supportive community. They aim to educate participants on how to support others through grief, what to expect during the grieving process, and how to build a compassionate, understanding community.

4.) End of life support:

As a certified End of Life Doula through *Peaceful Presence Project, Lily offers compassionate companionship and provides non-medical support and guidance to individuals and their loved ones as they navigate the complexities of serious illness, dying, death, and grief. Recognizing that end-of-life experiences are deeply personal and often multifaceted, an end of life doula offers practical, emotional, physical, and spiritual care tailored to the needs and wishes of those they serve.

End of Life doula support offers care for those experiencing serious illness, caregiving challenges, bereavement, and major life transitions, as well as support in the final days/weeks/months of life.

*All grief coaching end education sessions will help facilitate ways to integrate your loss/losses into your life post-loss. Life will never be the same, but there is joy and purpose as you move through your loss with patience, compassion, and connection.

Joyful Sorrow Grief Coaching focuses on:

1. Naming your loss and secondary losses.

2. Cultivating routine, coping mechanisms, rituals, and connection in a way that honors how you individually heal and honors the person/people you are remembering.

3. Rebuilding your life post-loss as you learn to integrate your grief into your life story - Embracing healing and radical acceptance, recognizing that joy and meaning are still possible, even in the midst of sorrow.

Unlike traditional therapy, which often delves into past experiences and deep-rooted emotional issues, grief coaching is future-focused and solution-oriented. It aims to provide a safe and supportive environment for clients to express their feelings, explore their grief journey, and work towards healing and growth.

Coaching does not replace trauma therapy, talk therapy or psychotherapy. A coach will never diagnose, prescribe, or pathologize the client.

Joyful Sorrow Grief Coaching is a non-profit, donation-based service to foster healing, education, and community for grievers.

Sessions are 1-1.5 hours long and are based on a suggested donation of $100-$150 based on clients’ needs and financial abilities.