Please know that families can count on our hospice professionals for ongoing support and education. One such area of support is bereavement care. This is a vital element of our hospice services for families. Before, during, and after a loved one’s death, hospice bereavement services are an important support system that assist patients, families, and caregivers with their respective grief.
Bereavement Services
Bereavement Programs to Support You
Our bereavement program provides the psychological, emotional, and spiritual support needed during life’s difficult transition after a loved one’s passing. Families and caregivers are provided with a continuum of care through a supportive bereavement program that continues for thirteen months after the loss of a loved one.
A telephone screening is necessary for enrollment for support groups. We provide the option of phone screenings, phone/virtual groups, and virtual/phone individual grief counseling sessions as needed.
For more information about our Bereavement Support, please contact Cynthia Stanton at (781) 659-2342 x 311.
Understanding Your Grief Group
“Understanding Your Grief” is most appropriate for those within the first year of a significant loss. This group is based primarily on the work of Dr. Alan Wolfelt, author, educator, and grief counselor. Participation in this group will help you answer questions like:
“Am I going crazy?” “Am I the only one who feels this way?” “Will these feelings ever go away?”
Participation in this group will help normalize your experience of the pain of loss and bring meaning to the process of healing. Space is limited in this group, so please call soon if you are interested. If the group fills up quickly, a waitlist will be created and another group scheduled.
Our Fall group will meet weekly on Thursdays from 2:00pm-3:30pm beginning October 31, 2024 and ending December 12, 2024 (does not meet on Thanksgiving).
The Fall group is now full. To join the wait list for the next series, for more information, or for a conversation about whether this group is appropriate for where you are in your grief journey, please contact Cynthia Stanton at (781) 659-2342 x 311.
Grief and the Holidays
At a time when the world around us is filled with twinkling lights, festive music, and a sense of cheerful expectation, the internal world of those who grieve can be challenged by an intensified sense of sorrow.
Please join us for a gathering that acknowledges the added heartache the holidays can bring. We will share readings, rituals, stories, and refreshment to bring comfort during this charged season.
Following the initial event, we will offer an informal drop-in session for support.
Dates:
Grief and the Holidays: Thursday, November 21, 2024 from 4:00pm-5:30pm This group is now full.
Follow-up Drop-in Gathering: Tuesday, December 10, 2024 from 4:00pm-5:30pm
Facilitators:
Cynthia Cady Stanton, MA, M.Div., CGE, Bereavement Coordinator
Kim Kelly Harriman, LICSW
To register or for more information, please contact Kim Kelly Harriman at (781) 659-2342 x 332 or Cynthia Stanton at (781) 659-2342 x 311.
Grieving the Loss of a Parent
Bereavement Support for Adults
The loss of a parent as and adult is the most common type of loss people encounter during a lifetime. This can lead others
to normalize the loss and leave the bereaved more alone with their grief. Comments of other are well-meaning but have a way of dismissing the impact:
"Your mom lived a good life."
"You are so lucky to have had your father for such a long time."
"Her suffering is over, and she is in a better place."
Our parents bring us life, teach us, and if we are fortunate, love us beyond measure. Some may deal with a more conflicted relationship that complicates the grief. It is a loss that has many layers, and a storied history.
We invite you to join a group of adults (25 years and older) who have lost a parent within the past year. We will meet for six sessions and cover several topics: the nature of your loss, regrets, "what ifs," managing feelings and symptoms that accompany grief, when to seek professional support in your grieving process, and how to move on with life while you continue to grieve.
Dates: Tuesdays from 4:00pm-5:30pm starting on October 29, 2024
Group Facilitator: Kim Kelly Harriman, LICSW
To register or for more information, please contact Kim Kelly Harriman at (781) 659-2342 x 332.
All in-person meeting locations will be provided upon registration.
Soulful Signs
Monthly Drop-In Group
Have you seen any cardinals lately? Or have you had any moments of serendipity that were reminiscent of your lost loved one and too striking to ignore? Did either of these happenings bring a sense of peace to your heart? Did this moment create a memory you will never forget?
For many grievers, when a sign from beyond arrives, so does a feeling of peace and connection. It can feel as though your loved one is right next to you still. These moments are deeply and personally felt. Sharing them with other grievers who understand can be one of the keys to healing the pain of grief.
The NVNA and Hospice bereavement team is hosting a monthly drop-in gathering so grievers can share their stories of continued connection to their lost loved one which arrive unexpectedly in the sights, sounds, and coincidences that are too striking to ignore. The only agenda for this time together is to provide a safe space for exploration in the mysteries of connection after loss, what these moments mean to us, and for healing from loss.
Dates: First Friday of each month from 12:00pm-1:00pm starting on November 1, 2024 and ending on May 2, 2025
To register or for more information, please contact Cynthia Stanton at (781) 659-2342 x 311.
"Hearing about other people and their grief experiences makes me feel that I am not so alone in my own grief."
Bereavement group participant
"Talking every week about the loss of my loved one has made a difference in my life."
Bereavement group participant
Bereavement Resources
GRIEF.COM Directory - Licensed Therapists and Coaches
What's Your Grief? Resources and Education
Manifestations of Normal Grief
“'Time heals' is only a partial truth. Healing comes from what the griever does with the time.”
J. William Worden, Ph.D.
"I have learned that the pain that surrounds the closed heart of grief is the pain of living against yourself, the pain of denying how the loss changes you, the pain of feeling alone and isolated—unable to openly mourn, unable to love and be loved by those around you. Instead of dying while you are alive, you can choose to allow yourself to remain open to the pain, which, in large part, honors the love you feel for the person who has died. After all, love and grief are two sides of the same precious coin."
Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.
Honor Your Loved One's Memory
Hospice families have an opportunity to recognize their loved one on the campus of the Pat Roche Hospice Home. Memorial donations cumulatively exceeding $1,000 will be invited to honor their loved one on our beautiful Emilson Family Wall of Remembrance. For more information, please contact Development Associate Julie Hargrave at (781) 610-1494 or jhargrave@nvna.org.
