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Gig Harbor-based business helps its clients navigate grief

Tragedy propelled Liberty Henderson to launch The Far North, a grief and wellness venture that specializes in group healing sessions and community events and gatherings.

She began her business in Alaska in 2021 and moved to Gig Harbor last year.

In 1997, when Henderson was 16 and lived in Oregon, her brother was murdered. Her mother tried to find resources for her, but Henderson largely suffered alone as a sibling of a homicide victim.

With her parents facing their own grief and navigating the legal system, Henderson couldn’t find many resources for what she felt. She learned that many people don’t want to hear about murder.

“I didn’t deal with it,” Henderson said. “I stuffed it down for 20 years.”

The Far North is a grief and wellness business in Gig Harbor. The company hosts support groups for people experiencing grief, as well as community events such as the Luminary Grief Walk on Sept. 25 at Donkey Creek Park. Photo courtesy of The Far North

Talking helps

As an adult, she lived in Alaska and operated a coffee shop. A local kid was murdered in her town, and Henderson connected with the mom, a customer at the coffee shop.

“We were the only ones in that town that understood what that was like, and we started hanging out and talking about it,” Henderson said.

Having someone to talk to, who understood, was life changing.

That’s why she started The Far North. She wanted to provide a support group that she didn’t have as a relative of a homicide victim.

The Far North focuses on grief acknowledgement and resilience. Henderson hosts support groups, trauma-informed training and workshops.

Henderson is not a mental health professional. She is a nationally credentialed victim advocate and has some training in grief and bereavement counseling, but she is not a therapist. All of The Far North support groups are designed for adults ages 18 and older, she said.

Grief is a journey

When she launched The Far North, Henderson started with support groups for siblings of homicide victims. She now hosts an additional nine-week homicide survivor support group that is limited in number and specifically designed for people in certain stages of grief.

Those stages, according to the Kubler-Ross Model include: denial and isolation; anger; bargaining; depression; and acceptance. They are not linear. 

The Far North is a grief and wellness business in Gig Harbor. The company hosts support groups for those experiencing grief, as well as community events such as the Light Up the Dark Candlelight Vigil that was held on Dec. 14 at Austin Park. Photo courtesy of The Far North

Understanding this model, Henderson vets potential participants to ensure they are in stages supportive to one another. Grief is a journey, and people are at different stages at different times. She hosts the support groups through Zoom, she said, which allows people from anywhere to join them.

“We need to acknowledge what homicide survivors are going through,” Henderson said. “A lot of agencies are limited to specific areas, but The Far North is open to anyone, anywhere, and we do the meetings on Zoom. ” 

Unlike the siblings group that allows anyone to join at any time, the nine-week group is closed.

“If you have a person one week past the crime, and one 30 years past the crime, it can get very challenging,” she said. “Once the nine-week group begins, it’s the same group of people meeting for the whole nine weeks. My disclaimer on all registration forms is that The Far North is not a crisis prevention resource. If you need to call 911, you need to do that if there is a major mental health crisis, because that is not me.”

Grief awareness

Historic cemetery tours at Artondale, a luminary grief walk in September, and a candlelight vigil in December are some of the ways Henderson attempts to bring awareness to grief. She encourages everyone to attend the events as a way of holding space for their grief.

She said the luminary grief walk is for anyone grieving anything at all. Any loss can evoke feelings of grief, she said. It doesn’t have to be a special person in their life — it could be a pet.

“I had someone come to the grief walk who was grieving their cat,” she said. “They came, and stood and shared about their cat. We are all grieving something, and it doesn’t have to be a dramatic loss.”

Participants in the grief walk pay for a luminary, and the name of the deceased is written on it. Henderson places the luminaries along the path; survivors walk it and get a chance to speak.

“I do a lot of things in nature, like forest bathing and grounding, and grief journaling in the forest,” she said. 

The Far North will host a national gathering for people impacted by homicide in September. Henderson said people from across the country and Canada are already signing up to attend. 

“I strongly believe that if my brother’s story can help one person, it’s worth it,” 

Cost of the nine-week closed support group is $199. The siblings support group is $25 per session. The community events range in price from $20 to $45.

For more information about The Far North, visit thefarnorthretreats.com/communityevents.

To inquire about joining a support group, email Henderson at [email protected]