Counselling and Support Services.

During the dying process both care and comfort of the person and all family members (including children) can be enhanced through different types of counseling. Support groups, grief counselors, and spiritual leaders have skills necessary to provide and safe and supportive environment to help the dying person and the family members express their fears and concerns. This can include honest communication, practical and psychosocial support, and bereavement counseling.

Bereavement, Mourning & Grief

These are words that have been used interchangeably to mean the same thing. The fact is, there really is a very important difference between them.

  • Bereavement:  The death of someone you love is one of the greatest losses that can occur. Bereavement is the state of being in which a person has suffered the death of a relative or friend. Bereavement comes from the root word meaning “to deprive, take away”.
  • Mourning:  Is the action you take or refrain from following a death. Mourning refers to the public expression of grief to the community. By going public with grief, family and friends can join in the process of working through the pain and feelings of loss. Mourning includes rituals and other actions that are specific to each person’s culture, personality, and spiritual practices. For example funerals, anniversary of death rituals etc. Bereavement and mourning are both part of the grieving process.
  • Grief: Grief is the normal response to a death and the subsequent losses. A grieving person may experience many dimensions of a normal grief response–physical, behavioral, emotional, social and spiritual. There is no “right way” or “time line”. Each person’s grief is individual and family members will experience grief and cope differently.

Bereavement Counseling
is a special type of professional help. This type of counseling has been shown to reduce the level of distress that mourners go through after the death of their loved one. It can help them move more easily through the phases of grief. Bereavement counseling can also help them adjust to their new lives without the deceased. Request a referral from your physician, contact hospice services or connect one of the organizations listed on this website.

Children & Teen Grief Counselling
It is not possible to shield children or protect them from death, nor should adults try. Children from a very young age grieve, and they can be helped with the grieving process through various support services.