BIO

Fern is a queer writer, facilitator, musician, and storyteller who lives in Chicago, IL. She is the owner and founder of Bespoke Healing, which is home to many of her creative projects as well as where she provides therapy to Chicago’s queer community as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. 

Fern comes from a lineage of strong women who farmed their own food, worked as riveters in Detroit during World War II, and were vegetarians before it was cool. She was brought up in a rich storytelling tradition, and family gatherings were often punctuated by tales and music told around the campfire or dinner table. Fern stayed rooted in the power of narrative as she went on to pursue her career, and she has practiced psychology in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Texas in settings including inpatient residential, community mental health, college counseling, and private practice. She also teaches in the Counseling Psychology masters program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 

Fern’s current projects include Bonfire, a weekly healing and justice-focused storytelling community; The Show and Tell Show, a 90-minute artifact-based storytelling experience; a memoir about heartbreak and healing told in episodic vignettes; and her annual Grief Party, which encourages attendees to celebrate losses both zany and profound. Fern has told stories at The Moth and Gilead Chicago, and she also writes and facilitates ceremonies for weddings and funerals—particularly for those who have been left out of traditional White/Eurocentric, Christian, monogamous, cis- and heteronormative institutions.

Fern’s attention to how we narrate and who gets left out of those narratives is a theme across her work. She often finds herself working with artists and organizers, and she is interested in making that centers grief, ancestry, and anti-colonial work. The goal of her work is often to bring justice, joy, and clarity to those who witness and partake in her making, and her favorite thing is hearing what others were inspired to do or reflect on after communing with her. Fern hopes her work continues to evolve and expand into more workshops, retreats, and community spaces.

INSPIRED BY

The Art of Gathering — Grief — Group Process — The Body is Not an Apology  — Liberation Psychology — The Lover's Dictionary — Andrea Gibson — Alok V Mennon — Prentis Hemphill