Please join us for our upcoming Grief Support Group.
Grief support group will be held once a month on the second Tuesday of each month.
Note – We may vote to take a break for the summer.
Dates:
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
A snack with juice will be served.
To reserve your spot please call 416- 929-4878
Or email healgrief@uoufc.org
Location:
Trinity St. Paul’s Church,
427 Bloor St. West at Spadina, Toronto
Our grief support group is designed to help support and heal the wounds of folks who may have experienced a significant loss. Remember loss not only stems from a death but also from the loss of dreams, a job, health, money, having children and many more events. Also be aware that losses happen in our life and we keep on going, and not taking time to heal the loss. So no matter how long ago was your loss, you are welcome to join us.
Grief is a natural reaction, often manifesting itself in a bewildering cluster of ordinary human emotions in response to any significant loss. Grief in our society is tends to be suppressed which can often lead to breakdowns in physical and emotional health. This can be avoided by working with a therapist or a grief support group to help heal the losses from the past.
Grieving people need: empathy, to be with somebody who understands their pain, community support, and education that grief is a healthy response to loss.
If you know someone who is suffering from grief, please pass along information about our grief group. Thank you for helping our community heal.
What we will cover:
· We will look at a healthy response to grief
· Understanding the many faces of loss
· Becoming aware of the five phases of grief
· Steps to help cope through each phase of grief
· How to move out of the crisis mode
This event is open to all who have had any significant loss. This could include:
· Bankruptcy
· Divorce and all other break ups
· Loss of health
· Loss of a job
· A death of a loved one
· Loss of dreams how we thought our life was going to evolve
· Loss of a pet
· And any other loss you may personally have experienced
Tuesday, May 8, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
An Introduction to the Grief Journey
We will look at the five phases of grieving. We will incorporate holistic approaches like Bach remedies, aromatherapy, acupressure, meditation and homeopathy to help cope during this difficult transitional period.
Tuesday June 12, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Identifying and Dealing with Grief Triggers
How often were you feeling fine and out of the blue, you burst into a grief explosion? This workshop will help you understand the triggers that will bring up the sense of loss. Once you begin to understand the triggers you will be able to alter the response and the behavior that often follows. Learn how to transform the triggers to a positive behavior. We will also look at the role of journaling to process uncomfortable emotions.
Triggers:
Have you ever woken up happy and motivated, only to be hit by a sudden sense of doom? A cloud hangs over your head, and you feel down, depressed, anxious, and hopeless.
When it comes to processing grief and loss, many factors can be a trigger for you to burst into tears or blow up like a volcano.
This evening will deal with how to learn to identify triggers and diffuse them.
A trigger is something in the present that resonates with something similar from the past and it may happen faster than a nanosecond. The event in the present has the potential to bring up all of your feelings from the past. You can learn to change your response to this trigger.
We will look at journaling to help process your feelings of loss. Journaling is a great tool to process emotions but most folks do not know how to get started. This workshop will give you all the tools to start journaling and start clearing negative events when you go home.
The evening will conclude with a guided meditation to heal loss and bring in peace.
We look forward to assisting one and all in their healing journey.
Rev. Alexandra Gellman
