Grief does not need to be fixed. It needs to be witnessed, honoured, and given somewhere safe to live.
This is a place where you can come exactly as you are, without judgement, without explanation, and without anyone telling you how you should grieve.
Welcome, I'm Alison.
I support people who are living through profound loss, traumatic grief, and the life-changing experience of death.
People find me when the world they once knew no longer makes sense. They feel lost, overwhelmed, disconnected from themselves, or simply exhausted from trying to hold everything together.
I believe grief needs somewhere to go. It needs to be witnessed and felt, not rushed, silenced, diagnosed,
or fixed.
My role is not to tell you how to grieve or to have all the answers. It is to walk beside you, listen deeply, and create a safe and sacred space where all of you is welcome: your sorrow, your anger, your love, your questions, your silence, and even the parts of you that still want to live.
You may not be able to change what has happened.
But, in your own time and in your own way, you can begin to discover how to meet this moment, and how to live from here.
This space may be for you if…
You are grieving a person or beloved fur companion whom you deeply love, and you're trying to understand how to live in a world where they are no longer physically here.
You are a bereaved parent carrying a loss that has changed you at the deepest level, and you need somewhere your child can still be spoken about, remembered, and loved.
Your loss was sudden or traumatic, and alongside your grief you may be carrying shock, fear, anger, unanswered questions, or a nervous system that no longer feels safe.
You no longer know who you are after loss. The person you were before no longer exists, and you are trying to discover who you are now without leaving the person you love behind.
You are tired of being told to move on, find closure, or get over it. You want support that honours your grief rather than treating it as something that needs to be fixed.
Your loss has opened spiritual questions for you. You may be questioning death, what happens after we die, your connection with your loved one, or whether love and relationship can continue beyond the physical body.
You do not need to arrive here ready to heal. You do not need to know what you need. You can simply arrive as you are.
The Grief Architect is about helping you rebuild .
not the life you had before, but a life spacious enough to hold everything you have become.
YOUR GREIF
YOUR LOVE
YOUR MEMORIES
the one who died
your life asking to be lived
Ways I can support you
There is no single way through grief. I offer different pathways of support depending on where you are, what you are carrying, and what feels right for you.
Traumatic Grief Support
Virtual & In-Person
One-to-one support for those navigating grief, traumatic loss, and the profound changes that can follow the death of someone you love. A space to be witnessed without judgement, timelines, or pressure to “move on.”
Ritual Breathwork
Virtual & In-Person
Guided breathwork using breath, music, ritual, and nervous-system awareness to create space for grief, emotion, connection, and remembrance. Offered individually, in groups, and in special sessions for bereaved parents.
Death Doula & End-of-Life Support
Virtual & In-Person
Compassionate support for individuals and families approaching death and dying. I offer presence, conversation, ritual, practical and emotional support, and space for the sacredness of this transition.
Plant Medicine Guidance
In-Person
Intentional support for those exploring plant medicine as part of grief, healing, self-discovery, and spiritual connection. My approach includes thoughtful preparation, a safe and supported journey, and integration afterward.
Death Doula &
End-of-Life Support
Ritual, Nature & Remembrance
are woven throughout my work
Ritual and connection with the natural world are woven throughout much of what I offer, creating meaningful ways to honour loss, remember those we love, mark transitions, and reconnect with life.
I'm Alison Yendell
a grief practitioner, traumatic grief counselor, death doula, end-of-life midwife, and ritual breathwork facilitator.
founder of the greif architect
My work is professional, but it is also profoundly personal. I am a bereaved mother, and the deaths of my children changed everything I thought I knew about grief, love, death, and what it means to keep living.
When I say “I get it,” I really do get it. I know what it is to have life divided into before and after. I know what it is to wake up in a world that keeps moving when yours has stopped, and to discover that grief cannot be hurried, fixed, or neatly resolved.
What I want you to know before you trust me with your grief
is that you will never have to make it smaller for me. You don’t need to protect me from your pain, explain why you still miss them, or pretend you are doing better than you are.
I will meet you where you are, and we will begin there.
Hear from past clients
Through her work, I found a sense of freedom I honestly did not know was possible.
Five years ago, I lost my wife, and the grief that followed became intertwined with depression and anxiety that I had struggled with for much of my life. I attended two retreats with Alison, and those experiences changed my life. Alison’s compassion, insight, and ability to create a safe space allowed me to face grief, pain, and emotions I had carried for years. I no longer feel controlled by the grief, depression, and anxiety that once defined so much of my life."
- CLAY TYLER
Hear from past clients
Through our work together, I’ve experienced a total transformation and rewiring of my inner and outer worlds.
She has helped me fall in love with my life (even its tragedies), while also maintaining a rich connection to the spiritual realm. Alison approaches her work with such clarity and care, and holds space for experiences that are enormous and mysterious, beautiful and challenging, humorous and heartbreaking. She has a special way of walking alongside you while always guiding you back to the wisdom inside yourself.
- SARA
Hear from past clients
Alison’s Soul Connection Breathwork is such a beautiful gift for bereaved parents.
She creates an incredibly safe, loving space to breathe, soften, release, and open our hearts to our children in spirit. Each session I’ve experienced has been different, but always powerful, filled with connection, emotion, peace, and even a little magic. I always leave feeling lighter, more grounded, and deeply connected to my sparkly son Shayne. So grateful for Alison and the love she brings to this beautiful work.
- LISA HUDSON
Hear from past clients
Alison is a true support and pure love; her presence alone is part of the healing.
This was my first experience with the medicine, and I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect human to hold space and help guide me through. Alison was intuitive and generous in every moment, and her ability to hold space is a remarkable gift to the world. She has been a beautiful soul, celebrating this rebirth with me.
-JESSICA CEINCIN HENRIQUEZ
Hear from past clients
Through her work, I found a sense of freedom I honestly did not know was possible.
Five years ago, I lost my wife, and the grief that followed became intertwined with depression and anxiety that I had struggled with for much of my life. I attended two retreats with Alison, and those experiences changed my life. Alison’s compassion, insight, and ability to create a safe space allowed me to face grief, pain, and emotions I had carried for years. I no longer feel controlled by the grief, depression, and anxiety that once defined so much of my life."
- CLAY TYLER
Hear from past clients
Through our work together, I’ve experienced a total transformation and rewiring of my inner and outer worlds.
She has helped me fall in love with my life (even its tragedies), while also maintaining a rich connection to the spiritual realm. Alison approaches her work with such clarity and care, and holds space for experiences that are enormous and mysterious, beautiful and challenging, humorous and heartbreaking. She has a special way of walking alongside you while always guiding you back to the wisdom inside yourself.
- SARA
Hear from past clients
Alison’s Soul Connection Breathwork is such a beautiful gift for bereaved parents.
She creates an incredibly safe, loving space to breathe, soften, release, and open our hearts to our children in spirit. Each session I’ve experienced has been different, but always powerful, filled with connection, emotion, peace, and even a little magic. I always leave feeling lighter, more grounded, and deeply connected to my sparkly son Shayne. So grateful for Alison and the love she brings to this beautiful work.
- LISA HUDSON
Hear from past clients
Alison is a true support and pure love; her presence alone is part of the healing.
This was my first experience with the medicine, and I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect human to hold space and help guide me through. Alison was intuitive and generous in every moment, and her ability to hold space is a remarkable gift to the world. She has been a beautiful soul, celebrating this rebirth with me.
-JESSICA CIENCIN HENRIQUEZ