12/31/2025
I am so deeply proud of our team here at Calabasas Counseling and Grief Center.
Over the past year, we have sat beside people impacted by trauma and grief 4,150 times. That is 4,150 moments of bearing witness, holding pain with care, and taking seriously the responsibility to show up for grief.
We do this work with skill and intention—but you may be surprised to hear laughter in our sessions, too. Because grief is a mass of conflicted emotions. Joy and sorrow, love and heartbreak, longing and relief can coexist.
We know people need space to tell the stories of the ones who are no longer here—the stories that often get shut down by well-meaning family and friends trying to protect them from sadness, loneliness, or pain. We know that sharing those stories lets loved ones come alive inside.
Bittersweet contains all the feelings.
We also understand the power of the unfinished stories—what could have been, what should have been, and what was never repaired or acknowledged. These places matter. And we have the professional training and grounded presence to help people navigate the storms of grief until they can feel their feet on solid ground again.
With immense gratitude, we celebrate our team:
Our core team includes myself, Debi Jenkins Frankle, and my husband Mark Frankle, who co-founded Calabasas Counseling and Grief Center in 1994. We are trained in multiple trauma modalities, including EMDR, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), somatic embodiment and regulation techniques, and have completed multiple Grief Skills certificate programs.
We are honored to work alongside three exceptional associates, all well-trained in grief and traumatic loss (including su***de loss, homicide, sudden death, terminal illness, and family estrangement):
🌿 Lydia Silva, AMFT
Lydia brings a compassionate, grief-sensitive approach to her work and is fluent in ASL, expanding access to trauma- and grief-informed care for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing clients. She creates a thoughtful, attuned space to explore loss, identity, and healing.
🌿 Rose Castellanos Cruz, AMFT
Rose offers warm, culturally responsive grief support and is bilingual in Spanish and English, allowing her to meet clients where they are emotionally and linguistically. She integrates trauma-informed care with deep respect for clients’ lived experiences and family contexts.
🌿 Katie Byam, AMFT
Katie provides grounded, compassionate support to individuals navigating grief and trauma, bringing steadiness, insight, and a deeply client-centered approach to complex loss and life transitions.
✨ Jennifer White
Jennifer became licensed several months ago after three years with us, specializing in traumatic grief. We celebrate her new venture in private practice in Santa Clarita and know she will continue to bring depth, compassion, and expertise to the communities she serves.
✨ Todd Kirby
Todd recently became licensed after two years with us, specializing in grief work with teens, families, young adults, and men. We cheer him on as he launches his practice in Colorado, where he will soon be licensed in addition to California.
And none of this would function without our incredible administrative assistant, Maddy Watson. Maddy built and manages our website, helps grievers find us, promotes our work online, and supports my separate grief-training business serving clinicians nationally and internationally. Her care, creativity, and dedication matter more than she knows.
I am profoundly grateful—for this team, for the trust placed in us, and for the honor of doing this work together. 🤍🤍
