Kelsey Ellis, MA, CCLS

Kelsey Ellis is the founder of Waves of Grief Collective™ and co-founder of Ocean Flow Collective™, a community of leading surf therapy practitioners, healers and humans working together to reduce the feelings of isolation and loneliness that accompany grief and loss. 

We are all connected by our love for the ocean - how being in, on, or around the water can be healing - and facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration as long-held views about the grief experience evolve. Kelsey began hosting community Waves of Grief surf therapy support groups after the sudden loss of her twin sister Audrey to COVID-19 complications in March of 2020. Her work has been recognized in National Geographic's IMPACT series and most recently by the US Surgeon General. 

Her professional background lies in facilitating expressive art therapeutic programs for trauma recovery. She is Program Manager for Josie's Place, where she leads grief training and offers bereavement support for children and families in the San Francisco Bay Area. Collectively her personal and professional experiences have further fueled her passion for building community through creative heart-centered gatherings in nature.

Waves of Grief™ programs are rooted in ritual, nature, and community building therapy models to best support holistic healing.

“Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.” -Francis Weller

Kelsey lead the Waves of Grief™ ritual and paddle out for the 2022 Mourning Surf Retreat and will co-facilitate the 2024 Waves of Grief™ Facilitator Retreat.