Intimacy Perspectives

03/05/2026

There are bears on the path. 🐻

That’s what a Native American woman said at my social work graduation in 1983 — and it has stayed with me ever since.

The older I get, the more I see how true it is.

There are bears in our nervous systems. Bears in the headlines. Bears in our personal lives. Grief. Heartbreak. Collective strain.

The question isn’t how to get rid of the bears.
It’s how we bear them.

I’ve come to believe we do that together. We go into the woods with someone we trust. We stand at the river — of grief, of strength, of shared wisdom — and we allow ourselves to see and be seen. Collective presence makes the weight more possible to carry.

💬 Who walks with you when you meet the bears on your path?

03/03/2026

Grief doesn’t need fixing.

It needs space. 💗

Breathing Thru Grief is a 4-hour, in-person workshop where grief and grace are both welcome.

Together with Teresa , we are creating a thoughtful, held container for Bay Area friends who want to slow down, breathe, and be present with what loss has carried into their lives.

No pressure to share. No expectation to be “strong.”
Just breath, presence, movement and care.

Just breath. Presence. Gentle movement. Careful attention to what is living inside and between us.

📅 Sunday, March 29
📍 San Leandro, California

🕊️ Early bird pricing is available.

If this speaks to you, you are warmly invited to join us (link in bio).

02/20/2026

Grace is essential.

Not as an idea. Not as something we earn. But as something we practice.

I speak about grace as a verb — alive, moving, loyal, kind. Something even deeper than forgiveness. A force that brings light into heavy places. ✨

Mary Oliver writes:
“Love moves away the light changes. I need more grace than I thought”.

We are living in a time of personal, collective, and generational loss. Many of us feel the weight of moral injury — a deep ache when the values we hold most dear are violated. 🙏🏼

Grace is our inherent capacity to meet heartache with tenderness. To bring compassion to grief. To steady ourselves, and one another, in the midst of so much pain.

When we bring grace to our losses, we create the conditions to be well in this world — together.

💬 Where are you being invited to practice grace right now?

02/18/2026

Moral injuries happen when our deepest values are assaulted.

This morning, a small moment with my dog reminded me how deeply our values shape our lives. Even tiny slights — or oversights — can touch our moral compass. 🧭

As humans, we’re wired to care. Our values define our sense of self and guide our relationships. But moral injuries, whether big or small, happen all the time — in systems, in families, and in our closest connections.

The key is having a strong “values GPS” — continuously refining your moral compass and aligning your actions with what truly matters. Relationships, integrity, and connection are the practice fields for living this alignment every day.

💬 How do you stay aligned with your core values, even in tricky situations?

02/16/2026

I’ve been a clinical social worker and psychotherapist since 1983…

Over 40 years of guiding meaningful conversations and witnessing incredible growth in my clients. 🙏🏼

One of my long-term clients recently completed her journey with me, and it was a beautiful reminder of why I do this work. Seeing someone evolve, feel complete, and step into their own life is profoundly rewarding.

It’s moments like these that make every session meaningful and fulfilling.

💬 Have you ever had someone in your life whose growth deeply inspired you?

02/12/2026

Beneath our personal and collective heartbreaks lives longing: for meaning, for connection, for belonging, for grace, for relational witnessing that soothes our souls.

Grief & Grace: Loss, Longing and Belonging is a seven-week collective journey beginning on February 19th in San Leandro!

G and G invites participants to meet both bring light into the heavy and dark places that move among us— in a a compassionate, village-like space to witness and be witnessed.

Together we learn to engage with tenderness, transparency and kindness—to shift from isolation to connection, from numbness to aliveness, from despair to meaning.

Register here! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grief-grace-loss-longing-and-belonging-7-week-event-series-tickets-1980642483987?aff=ebdsshcopyurl&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp

Each weekly gathering is guided by Michael Gelbart, a highly experienced therapist and leader, and by guest facilitators, weaving together structured practices of somatic, soulful attunement, dialogue, writing, ritual, and shared presence.

Join us,

michael g

www.shiftinperspective.com

Create a more meaningful & soulful life with integrative intimacy & holistic psychotherapy - Michael Gelbart, Holistic Couples Therapist.

02/11/2026

Last Thursday, we gathered for the Grief & Grace Introductory Evening.

Ten people came together in shared presence — listening deeply, honoring different kinds of loss, and allowing what matters to be placed into the space with care. There were stories, photographs, quiet moments, and an altar shaped collectively by what people brought.

What stood out most was the pace. Less filling the space. More allowing. Grace as patience. Grace as presence. Grace as something we practice together.

The full Grief & Grace seven-week series begins on Febraury 19th in San Leandro, offering a steady, relational space to continue this work of listening, witnessing, and being with grief in community.

If this resonates, you’re welcome to join us.

👉🏼 Details and registration: www.griefandgrace.eventbrite.com

02/05/2026

Reminder! 🔔

🕯️ Tonight at 7pm we gather for Grief & Grace — Introductory Evening.

If you’re carrying something heavy, tender, or unnamed, you’re welcome here. This is a space to slow down, be witnessed, and share presence with others navigating personal, generational, and collective grief.

📅 7pm, Thursday February 5th
333 Estudillo Ave, Suite #206
📍 San Leandro, CA

There’s still few spaces left — come as you are.

👉🏼 Register / details: www.griefandgrace-intro.eventbrite.com

02/04/2026

Grief & Grace is a seven-week, in-person series in San Leandro, CA, created to offer presence, witnessing, and ways to express how these times are being lived and felt.

We begin with an introductory evening tomorrow, February 5th, followed by the full seven-week series starting February 19th.

If you feel called to attune with others, practice presence, and be supported in community, you’re warmly welcome to join us.

👉🏼 Register for the introductory evening: www.griefandgrace-intro.eventbrite.com

02/03/2026

Being with grief is how we stay human in difficult times.

So much of what we’re carrying right now was never meant to be held alone. We’re not meant to carry what’s heavy by ourselves.

When grief is given company — when it’s witnessed and met with presence — something shifts. Shared presence becomes ballast. What felt unsteady begins to settle. What felt isolating begins to connect.

This is the intention behind Grief & Grace: a place to slow down, be witnessed, and be accompanied. A space of relational containment in times of collective loss, where grief held together becomes belonging.

If this speaks to you, you’re warmly invited to join us — beginning with the introductory evening on Thursday, February 5th in San Leandro, CA.

🔗 Register for the intro session: www.griefandgrace-intro.eventbrite.com

02/02/2026

Grief isn’t only about what we’ve lost.

It’s also about what we long for — safety, connection, meaning, belonging. 🕊️

When grief has no place to go, it doesn’t disappear. It leaks into urgency, numbness, overwhelm, and collapse.

When grief is met with presence... it slows the body and steadies the nervous system.

This series is an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and remember we’re not meant to carry what’s heavy by ourselves.

Grief shared becomes grounding. Grief witnessed becomes belonging.

This Thursday, February 5th, I’m offering an introductory evening for the Grief & Grace series — a space of shared presence, listening, and accompaniment. 🩵

👉🏼 If you feel called, you’re welcome to join us. You can register now for the session here: www.griefandgrace-intro.eventbrite.com

Come as you are, and let your grief be met with presence, care, and connection.

01/30/2026

We’re living in a time of layered loss — personal, generational, and collective.

Grief isn’t the problem. Grieving alone is. 🙏🏼

That’s why I’m offering Grief & Grace: Loss, Longing, and Belonging, a seven-week in-person series in San Leandro, CA.

Each week, we gather in a supportive circle to witness one another, slow down, and explore grief through reflection, shared practices, and presence.

It’s not about fixing grief or analyzing it. It’s about giving it space to be expressed, held, and shared — so it can transform into connection, grounding, and belonging.

✨ You don’t have to carry this alone. You’re welcome to join us.