Turn Your Despair Into a Force For GOOD.

Maya Frost, founder of Collapse Forward, wearing a white turtleneck sweater, standing in front of blooming spring tree.

I may be an accidental grief worker, but it is my calling. From a young age, I experienced grief that rearranged me. I felt the weight of personal and existential collapse as a constant presence.

It taught me what systems could not.

Specifically, that:

🔸grief offers gifts

🔸anger is fuel

🔸creativity is sparked by limitations    

That may sound vague, but this magic combination has the power to transform lives. 

 

Serving as a collapse companion for hundreds of individuals in 20+ countries for over six years now has revealed surprising truths. 

Here's one: those who hold the specific and powerful combination of grief + anger can turn even the most crushing circumstances into a wildly creative, intentional, and fulfilling way forward.  

Not grief + anxiety. (If you're feeling more anxious than angry, this is not for you.)

But if you're feeling that sad and mad combo? This was designed for YOU.

Collapse Companioning™ 

Like marigolds (companion plants that strengthen what grows beside them), it offers presence, protection, and partnership.

Inspired by Nature and the principles of regeneration, Collapse Companioning™ is a creative capacity-crafting practice that invites us to:

🌿 listen deeply

🌿 lighten heaviness

🌿 liberate flow

🌿 leverage energy

🌿 localize healing

Photo of a beautiful blooming orange marigold, with foliage, muted green background.

Together, we turn the truth of our reality into extraordinary expressions of human connection.

In the face of our predicament, we choose to:

SEE CLEARLY

Collapse literacy without panic.
We name what’s actually happening — without denial or doom spirals — so that you can  shift your focus from fear to courageous awareness. 

GET CREATIVE

Rewilding imagination.
We tap into longing and revitalize our sense of what is possible. This presents new opportunities to explore living fully now with presence, care, and joy. 

ACT INTENTIONALLY

Turning anger into fuel.  We funnel that sizzle into small actions, stealthy disruptions, and delightful ways to inspire. Then co-create a future worth fighting for as we stay wide awake together.

This is not therapy, coaching, or consulting.

It’s a co-creative process that helps you fall in love with what is (still!) POSSIBLE.

Daily prompts and provocations...but with loving support and encouragement.

Deep work on longing...in ways that lead to rewilded imagination and clarity.

Active steps forward...that feel aligned and enlivening.

Momentum that builds naturally... without goal-setting or pushing.

And it all happens in 30 days. (Yes, really.)

This is a good fit for you if you:

  • see systems failing and refuse to look away
  • feel grief and anger and want to make changes in how you live, love, and work. 
  • want real action, not abstract theory or endless processing

If you are ready to move from processing what we are facing to participating in crafting what´s next, I offer TWO highly-personalized 1:1 ways to work together.

 

1) DOOM TO BLOOM™  - A 30-Day Collapse Companioning™ Experience 

My signature series offering *daily* support, encouragement, and co-creation for 30 days.

It naturally builds consistency and momentum from Day One, with compounding insights and clarity that lead to inspiration and the development of a meaningful project. 

For an entire month, we focus on: 

🔸restoring your capacity to think clearly despite strong emotions

🔸reflecting on longing  

🔸rewilding your imagination

🔸reigniting your creative energy

🔸reinforcing your connection to others 

2) CO-ACTIVE ADAPTATION™ - A 3-Month Collapse Companioning™ Experience 

This series offers a profound transformation for those who are facing extensive personal and/or professional shifts.  

It is designed to support you as you redesign your life, bringing your awareness into your relationships with loved ones, your livelihood, and where and how you choose to live now.

In our three months together, we use a bespoke blend of video calls, voice messages, texts, and a series of prompts and provocations designed for your unique circumstances

Co-Active Adaptation™ is for those ready to make big changes and take action that helps, heals, and protects you and others.  

Reading the stories of others can help you imagine what is possible for you, and help you decide whether Doom to Bloom™ or Co-Active Adaptation™ is the best fit for you and your situation. 

Which one of the following client stories resonates most with you?

30-day Doom to Bloom clients:

¨I lost the job I had loved for twenty years. I spent months at home, watching terrible news. I hit rock bottom, fearing for myself and the world.

Maya embraced my grief and anger, and made me laugh again. She guided me through a creative re-imagining process that filled me with energy and ideas. I literally felt like I came alive! This led to being offered an amazing new role. I honestly believe that this experience with Maya saved my life.¨

Maria - former events producer, now director of a community-building organization

"As a single mother, I was angry about what I was witnessing and worried about how to raise my son in this time of uncertainty.  

As a mother and grandmother, she helped me see new ways to think about the future for my son. Her process allowed me to recognize that I had agency, and to start taking serious steps toward what I longed for. We moved to a smaller community where we immediately felt a kinship with others.

 I have a whole new focus that makes me feel engaged, connected, and supported." 

Erica - nurse practitioner, founder of a healthcare co-operative for single mothers

¨It was a bit like the shoemaker´s children who have no shoes. As a grief therapist, I found myself completely frustrated (and humiliated) by my inability to work through my own grief. 

After the passing of my partner of 20 years, I felt blocked, guilty, and angry with myself. Maya listened with love, and through her fascinating prompts, she helped me realize something I had completely missed. Everything lifted after that.

I learned so much from her, and have brought her companioning concepts into my own work.¨

Luz - grief therapist

Cropped circle photo of a lovely woman with brown skin, nice smile, her hair in a bun on her head, wearing a purple T-shirt in an art studio.

"Everything seemed pointless. I had so much grief and anger. I could not even bring myself to walk into the studio. 

Maya turned everything around. Her prompts and provocations brought that hum back into my brain. I started dreaming in color again. And in just a couple of weeks, I was back at the easel, obsessed even, with ideas and flow I have rarely experienced. The world feels heavy, but I feel deeply inspired and love teaching again. What a gift!¨

Dee - painter and art instructor 

3-month Co-Active Adaptation™ clients: 

Photo of a white man in his 50s, graying hair, styled neatly, blue collar shirt.

¨Due to this administration, I was pushed out of a role that had defined me for decades. I was devastated and angry. After months of licking my wounds, I was ready to start something new.

Maya helped me see that I had interesting options. Thanks to her insight, words of encouragement, and thoughtful (sometimes pointed) nudges, I have created an organization that feels deeply meaningful and focused on exactly what we need right now.¨

Richard - former sustainability lead, now director of a regeneration non-profit

Photo of a black woman, smiling, wearing sunglasses and a tank top, wavy dark hair parted on the side.

¨I was targeted and harrassed by an angry citizen. Even a restraining order did not keep my family safe. 

Maya helped me pour my fear, anger, and resentment into action. Her process was a perfect fit for my logical brain but also brought out my creative side. I loved the rewilding of my imagination! She offered useful tips and much-needed laughter as I moved with my children from the U.S. to France. I feel safe, calm, and happy here, with a community and work I adore. My children are thriving! I am so thankful for this new life.¨

Lisa - former county administrator, now owner of a natural foods store

Photo of a lovely smiling white woman, late 40s, with brown hair parted on the side and bangs. Wearing brown-framed glasses and a black color shirt with white and red polka dots.

"I was in a creative slump. For the first time in my life, the words didn't flow. I was losing my faith in our future. And I was pretty pissed about everything.

Maya really dialed me into my longing. It sparked serious joy, oomph, and a brilliant re-imagining of my tired business. I absolutely love my work again!

AND she was my co-conspirator in crafting an updated vision of what I loved about my childhood. Now, I have a crooked-but-workable greenhouse and actual dirt under my nails. I trade my veggies for video editing, and started singing with three neighbors who have become dear friends.

Also: I´m now the queen of collaborative power storage. (batteries? check! generator? check! solar installation? check!) 

Maybe we can't change the direction of the world, but our cul-de-sac? HELL yes."

Susie - copywriting consultant for non-profit organizations, local coordinator

🌿WHAT WE NEED NOW:

🔶community (family, friends, neighbors and others we care about) 

🔶mutual aid (to share skills and support within our community)

🔶learning (to help us imagine new ways of doing things)

🔶art (as a way of expressing our creativity and sharing with others)

🔶humor (laughter is healing, and builds trust and solidarity) 

🔶joy (it keeps despair from thinking it's in charge)  

🔶LOVE (it fuels all of the above)

 

Photo of Maya Frost, in gray v-neck sweater on green grass against fall foliage. a blooming star magnolia in spring.

Graphic with the words: Let's walk together.

You don’t need to create a master plan.
Start with a first move.

If you feel the tug of this work, trust it.

(Around here, reconnecting to what feels right is one of our favorite hobbies.)

Photo, rear view of two women walking in the woods and talking. One has dark hair, wears an orange rain jacket, and is gesturing toward another woman, who has white wavy hair, wearing a rain green jacket.

🌿 Collapse cracks us open.

But it also reveals hidden gifts.

Let´s find the ones that are waiting for you.

 

Here's one:

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and get a FREE copy of Field Notes On Collapse Companioning. It's a quick read about how companioning can help you and those you serve.