Traditional grief support groups and short term grief counseling sessions may not provide long-term healing benefits for everyone. Sitting in groups and listening to others' pain and suffering can sometimes cause us to make unfair comparisons about grief. We may suppress our grief because our loss doesn't seem as serious as that of others. For example, perhaps my cat has died and I am devastated by it, but someone else in the group's child died in a horrible accident. I may think I shouldn't speak about my own pain because it may seem trivial compared to the mother's loss. Or, Is a divorce equal to the death of a spouse? We believe that each loss is one hundred percent real for each griever, and we do not make any comparisons.

Unlike grief counseling and support groups offered by Hospice, our Recovery Workshops follow a very structured form. There are reading and homework assignments each week. We discover our own ways of trying to cope with loss, most of which have not been helpful. We dispel common myths, such as: keep busy, don't talk about it, put on a happy face, time heals all wounds.

There is ample time for individual speaking without being interrupted, commented on or judged by others.

All information is held in the strictest confidence and with the deepest respect and compassion for each person present.