GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP

If you have experienced a severe loss, please consider joining our grief support group at St. Peter’s. Our team is using a program that has helped many people through the grieving process.

SCHEDULE

Fall Session (8 wks)

Each Sat. Aug. 23 -- Oct. 11th

9:00-10:30am Parish Conf Rm.

Winter Session (8wks)

Each Sat. Nov. 15 -- Jan 3rd

9:00-10:30am Parish Conf Rm.

Questions? 728-7034 x 306

“When my father died,

I was 27 years old, single, and a professional woman. I was a capable and confident adult. Yet I had a gnawing question whether I was grieving “right.” How could I break down in tears--with strangers no less--when after a year I saw a man with Parkinson’s disease shuffling out the door just like my father had done? I had other questions too, like “Where did our friends go?” and “Why doesn‘t anyone say his name anymore?’” I was angry. During the two years of his convalescence and the year following his death, we received visits from many peo ple, but I needed a structure, a place in which to grieve that would not scare people away.

Later, I learned that the lack of bereavement support and understanding can trigger dysfunctional coping mechanisms such as alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide, divorce, premature marriage, hypochondria, sleep disturbances, chronic sickness, bitterness, isolation, and psychiatric problems.”

A grief support group can help dismantle the wall of fear and pain brick by brick. It allows you to express yourself without the fear of driving people away from you. You will hear others speak of their grief journey and how in time it changes. George Eliot said, “What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” This certainly applies to a grief support group.

--Excerpts from Jan Nelson, Ave Maria Press Notre Dame, Indiana