Peer Grief by Design Training Page
Peer Grief by Design

Design grief-responsive systems, programs, and communities

Grief shows up everywhere: in organizations, teams, and communities. Yet it is often unacknowledged or under supported, leaving those who serve others without the support they need.

This Design Sprint Series is for teams and individuals who want to intentionally design peer grief support programs for colleagues, clients, or communities.

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Upcoming Trainings: starting July 7 and September 2, 2026
Who this training is for

This training is designed for:

  • Peer support specialists, recovery coaches, and community health workers
  • Mental health and substance use recovery peer professionals
  • Teams and individuals who want to intentionally design peer grief support programs
  • Organizations creating a new initiative or strengthening existing grief-responsive efforts
Training overview

Turn compassion into practice and ideas into action

Through a mix of learning, reflection, and practical design exercises, participants will explore how to build sustainable, grief-responsive systems that honor lived experience and strengthen emotional well-being.

Each session introduces approachable tools from Human-Centered Design to help participants explore, design, test, and implement peer grief support within their own context.

No previous design training is required. This series is designed to be accessible, practical, and grounded in the wisdom of lived experience.

This is not a clinical or professional grief counseling training, but rather an opportunity to learn and grow through shared understanding, cultural humility, and community-based support.

Learning objectives

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

Learning Objective 1 Apply core principles of Human-Centered and Equity-Based Design to create or strengthen peer grief support within their organization or community.
Learning Objective 2 Identify and respond to the needs of those impacted by loss through empathy-based exploration and design tools such as journey mapping and prototyping.
Learning Objective 3 Develop a Peer Grief Support Action Plan that aligns with their organization’s culture, capacity, and goals.
Learning Objective 4 Engage in reflective practice and peer learning to build confidence, sustainability, and adaptability in grief-responsive programming.
Download a PDF with information on the training