About this course

In this program we have an interactive and educational course that leads you towards a feeling of expansive growth in your widowed journey. 


The Pillars of Healthy Widowhood

Throughout this course we will talk about the following in more depth than in the HOPE and HEAL e-courses:

  • Emotional and Mental Health
  • Physical Health
  • Relational Health
  • Spiritual Health
  • Financial Health
  • Fun and Creative Health
  • Purpose and Meaning Health

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome to your GROW course

  • 2

    GROW Session 101: Emotional and Mental Health

  • 3

    GROW Session 102: Physical Health

    • Somatic Experiencing and the Power of Movement

    • Foods that Heal in Grief and Growth by Tara Gidus Collingwood

    • Feminine and Sexual Health in Widowhood by Dr. Marissa Magsino

    • Self Reflection/Self Care

    • Resource List
  • 4

    GROW Session 103: Financial Health

    • Getting Organized Financially: Retirement and Beyond by Megan Kopka

    • Estate Planning For Widows: Where to Begin, What to Get Done?

    • Finding YOUR Financial Advisor For Who You are Now

    • Widows’ Voices: The Value of Financial Planning Research

    • Alternative Ways to Give to Charity

    • Self Reflection/Self Care

    • GROW Resource List
  • 5

    GROW Session 104: Relational Health

    • Dating and Love Again in Your Widowhood Journey by Jen Johnson and Jenn Fortune

    • Blending Families and Healing Families

    • Self Reflection/Self Care

    • Resource List
  • 6

    GROW Session 105: Spiritual Health

    • Building Your Spiritual or Religious Life in Widowhood: Determining What Works

    • The Taboo Topics in the Areas of Spirituality

    • Sacred Healing, Empowerment and Problem Solving

    • Self Reflection/Self Care

    • Resource List
  • 7

    GROW Session 106: Fun & Creativity Health

    • Who Knew I'd Like THAT?

    • Surprising Yourself in a Good Way: Finding Inspiration by Jennifer Mathews

    • How to Find Peace With Loss Through Music by Steven Sharp Nelson

    • Self Reflection/Self Care

    • Resource List
  • 8

    GROW Session 107: Purpose & Meaning

    • Trusting Your Intuition: Seeing Signs

    • What's Next for Me? Career Transitions

    • A Modern Love Story: Building a Life You Love

    • Self Reflection/Self Care

    • Resource List
  • 9

    Widow Statistics and Research: Be In the Know

    • Widowhood Myths vs. Realities

    • Widowhood and Mental Health: Social Predictors of Mental Health Disorders Among Widows

    • Widow Support Impact Report & Stats
  • 10

    GROW Conclusion & Graduation

    • GROW Post-Course Survey

    • Congratulations GROW Graduate!!

"Am I Ready" Checklist

Small steps forward as I navigate widowhood.

  • Life healing is a focus in my life, and you are hoping to discover more personal growth than ever before.

  • You've been on this journey for years now and feel knowledgable about many resources, but looking for more advanced widowhood topics.

  • I'm ready to broaden my full understanding of this journey and integrate all I've learned into this new identiy built in widowhood. I'm moving forward and reaching back purposefully to others.

GROW e-course

Instructor(s)

Carolyn Moor

Modern Widows Club Founder and Development Director

Carolyn Moor founded the nonprofit Modern Widows Club in 2011 from her home with two widows. A powerhouse speaker with an emerging voice in education, awareness and advocacy for women's health movement. She's spearheading and inspiring a new generation of widows to become mentors, leaders and advocates to make a positive impact on communities globally. Author of Connect, Inspire, Lead: Empowering Your Widow Mentoring & Leadership Gifts, she is passionate about changing the culture of health for widows. A TEDxOaklandStudio speaker, she's been featured in the WSJ, PBS, NPR, HuffPost LIVE, The Oprah Winfrey Show, OWN, TLC, Growing Bolder Media, Pecha Kucha and the WOW Factor Leadership Podcast. Find more at carolynmoor.com Currently, she's the curriculum creator at Widow Empowerment School of Thought (WESOT) e-courses, produces the Modern Widows Club Annual Widow Empowerment Event, hosts the podcast HEALTHY WIDOW HEALTHY WOMAN, and writes for Widow Life on Substack with her own opinion column titled Moor Thoughts. She is writing two books ‘Legendary Widows: Stories of Legacy' and ‘Revolutionizing Widowhood: Our Last Social Crisis of Significance’ and pioneering the future vision for the healthy modern widow pathway forward worldwide. Her interests include humanitarian work, SUP, travel, vintage cars, interior design and architecture. Her passion is serving others in finding their own unique purpose by embracing both faith and action. Studied at Pace University, Communication Studies, Stanford University Studies in International Women's Health and Human Rights, and STLCC Meramec, Interior Design. She's the proud mom of two daughters.

Cyndi Williams

Turning Grief Into Growth

Feeling overwhelmed in grief is normal. But living in a constant state of overwhelm can be detrimental to your mental and physical health. In this session, we’ll discuss those things that make us feel overwhelmed, along with how to manage the feelings and potentially turn them into a catalyst for growth. You’ll learn why feelings of overwhelm can occur, along with practical tools to calm yourself in those moments so you can do the necessary self-evaluation to get to the root of the problem.

Megan Kopka

Megan is passionate about helping women (especially divorced women and particularly widows) find financial security and the freedom to live full lives through planning and investing. Her experience as a former math teacher, wife, mom, Widow, solo parent, caregiver, medical advocate, business owner, and feminist give her unique perspectives when it comes to integrating money and values. Megan has two grown children she cherishes for spending time with: Bruce, a Third Mate in the Maritime industry and Jaden, a recent college graduate of UNC Charlotte and aspiring pilot. Megan is the co-advocate for the Cape Fear community of the Modern Widows club and serves as part of the organization Golden committee. Megan Kopka, CFP®, CRPC® NAPFA Registered Financial Advisor CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™ Kopka Financial, LLC Phone: 910-800-0095 www.kopkafinancial.com

Instructor(s)

Lyn Kienholz

Program Director

Lyn Kienholz found Modern Widows Club in 2011 after the loss of her husband Mike. She launched the Minneapolis West Community in 2013 and served widows in her home until 2019 when she transitioned to the Modern Widows Club HQ Team as the Program Director. Lyn believes that meeting widows where they are at either in-person or on-line can dramatically change the trajectory of a widows journey. As the Program Director for Modern Widows Clubs partners with our Communities and Clubs along with creating content for all of our programs. She is the Meeting & Event Planner for Modern Widows Club Widow Empowerment Event. Lyn lives with her second husband Jeff and their blended family of 6 kids near Minneapolis, MN. She owns Red Thread Consulting Group and her interests outside include boating, hiking, beach vacations along with curling up with a cup of tea and a good book during long Minnesota winters.

Dr. Marissa Magsino

Dr. Marissa Magsino who knows the effects of grief and loss both as a widowed woman and as a professional physician. Understanding what is physiologically happening in our bodies is important and Dr. Magsino brings a practical guide regarding health issues of Widowhood aim towards disease prevention. From our research data, the physical impact widowhood has on the body in the areas of stress, anxiety, brain fog, PTSD and adrenal fatigue can cause serious illnesses. Come learn the warning signs, and how to address them. Your health in this stage of life requires real advocacy and learning from someone who knows. Dr. Magsino is both an internist and functional doctor who gets to the root of the issues. She’s brilliant and wants to share how to journey through this and create a holistic pathway.

Tara Gidus Collingwood

Tara Gidus Collingwood, MS, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Personal Trainer, and fellow Wister. You can find her at dietdiva.net.

Instructor(s)

Jenn Fortune

Honolulu native Jenn Fortune married her first love Stephen. He passed away at the young age of 30, while serving in the US Air Force. In the following years, Jenn started a life for herself in Southern Illinois. She built a successful photography business that took her to several countries and throughout the United States. Her passion is empowering women to feel and know their value and the beauty they possess from the inside out. She has worked with thousands of women through the years through her photography business and ministry, inspiring and cultivating growth from the inside out. You can see this in her work and in the lives of those she has mentored and touched. Jenn serves as co-leader for the MWC Dating Club.

Jen Johnson

Jen Johnson was widowed on December 26, 2012 when her husband, Todd suffered a sudden heart attack at the age of 40. After a successful 20-year career in leadership roles within the tourism industry, her focus shifted to being a full-time mom to her two young boys. What has emerged from her journey is a passion for writing as well as her life’s purpose in serving and advocating for her widow sisters around the world. Her mission is to align those walking this widow journey with a holistic approach to both healing and achieving a whole life filled with joy and purpose. Jen serves as co-leader for the MWC Dating Club.

Dr. Linda Shanti McCabe

Linda Shanti McCabe is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified grief counselor, and author of “After Your Person Dies: Affirmations for traveling with grief, making meaning, and going on.” Follow her on Instagram at @griefandart.

Instructor(s)

Rev. Michele Grace Lessirard, C.Ht

Carrying a drum, walking with Spirit, she helps you clear your path of the soul loss you've endured so you can access new levels of creativity and joy. Rev. Michele Grace Lessirard, C.Ht. is an artist, interior designer, shamanic teacher and healer who combines the visible elements with the invisible or spiritual aspects of the home and self. She teaches women how to use the shamanic path of direct experience to affect positive changes in their lives. She is a full-time shamanic practitioner and teacher, SoulCollage® facilitator, a graduate from the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and member of Sandra Ingerman’s Shamanic Teachers Alliance. . You can find her online at www.MicheleGrace.com