Who We Are / Our Team

Claire Towle, LCSW

“Hope is being able to see that there is light even in the darkest of times. Finding hope is one of the greatest gifts that I received from helping the bereaved and from my own experience with loss. It is an honor to be able to share this hope with those who are grieving.”

Claire has had over 30 years of experience as a Clinical Social Worker combining direct clinical care, supervision, program development and management responsibilities. She is experienced in short-term therapy, crisis intervention, group work and bereavement counseling. Claire has been certified in bereavement support group facilitation, trauma, and Thanatology (the study of death and dying).  Claire is currently the Clinical Director of Taking Time.

Claire had a private psycho-therapy practice, specializing in issues related to loss, in Redondo Beach from 1999 until 2010. In addition, she served as Associate Director of Bereavement Services for Providence TrinityCare Hospice and was also the Director of The Gathering Place, a community bereavement center. Her role as Director of The Gathering Place included the development and facilitation of services for children, teens and adults experiencing the death of a significant person. Services at The Gathering Place included bereavement support (individual and group), resource linkages, referrals and outreach to the local schools and community. Claire has supervised MSW interns and staff. She taught MSW candidates in the UCLA graduate school of Public Policy and Social Welfare and supervised MSW’s and MFTs’ for licensing. Her career has also included volunteering for the USC Suzanne-Dworak Peck School of Social Work alumni services where she developed and facilitated “Social Work and Balance,” a self-care program for MSW alumni.

Claire is highly experienced, compassionate, and caring. Her dedication to grief and loss comes from both professional and personal experiences.  She has experienced multiple losses, including the traumatic and sudden death of her daughter, Cindy. The death of a child is “beyond endurance”, yet she found that she was able to survive and grow with the support of family, friends, and bereavement services.  Through her work, Claire continues to spread hope to others in their journey of loss.