Group Grief counciling

[Abby78]

So it's been getting harder sometimes but easier sometimes too if that makes sense.  Last night I just felt really good for a couple of hours.  I had no idea why but I knew it wouldn't last.  I was up last night at 3 am panicked sick and sad.  I need something to help me get through this intense grief.  I can barely function.  My daughters are becoming very aware that their mom is severely depressed and I hate it.  So this morning I searched bereavement groups near me and I found a couple.  Hopefully I'll be at one at 7 pm today.  I'm nervous about who will be there, what we will talk about,  if it'll even be easy communicate with people I just met, and a lot of other stuff.  Just wondering if anyone one else tried a group counciling like this.  How was it?

[Lisa]

I did better with one on one grief counseling. But I know plenty of people who did very well with groups.

Wishing you the best.

[Julester3]

We do a group which is for the entire family and then we split up in groups. I have done well in a group because it's comforting to be with people who understand and be able to share with them in a safe environment. My youngest who is 13 did well there but not my 17 y.o. She needed her own therapist which I got for her. Sometimes the therapist leading will have a subject to discuss, sometimes it's open or based on holidays coming up. I hope you have a positive experience.

[meemzi]

I hope it went well. Are they support groups or group counseling?

 

I've been to two support group meetings, in different cities with different people.

 

The first was great. No complaints. Loved it.

 

I just got home from my second meeting. It was heavily monopolized by one woman who would not stop talking. She interrupted others, went far off topic, and explained other people's stories against their will. (Ask me how I know.) It was her first meeting. I wish the facilitator had said something because I didn't feel I had the standing to. (Maybe her behavior is okay with them?) She talked well past the end time of the meeting. Legends say she's still talking now . . .

 

So I hope your experience was good! If it wasn't, remember this and try a different group.

[Abby78]

It was a support group.  Didn't go well.  4 other people that lost family members years ago.  They seemed to all still be very miserable.  It keep kind of depressed me more.

[Wheelerswife]

I have not found general grief support groups terribly helpful. Perhaps you can find one for young widows/widowers. I needed and in many respects still need to find situations where people have a similar experience to my kind of loss. It can be hard to find a good group depending on where you live. Like many of us, I have found more understanding and support from people I have connected with from this site and its predecessor.

 

Hugs,

 

Maureen

[Mizpah]

I did group therapy, in a group formed by my therapist.  I didn't do grief-specific groups, because the ones available to me were attended by much older people, and I didn't feel I could relate.  So the group my therapist formed was for people around my age (late 20s and early 30s) going through major life changes and/or dealing with trauma.  At first, there was a lot of anger involved for me - these people had no idea about the levels of pain and hopelessness and devastation I was experiencing.  But as time went by, it really was a source of comfort and coping and "growth" in many ways.  Not for everyone, but was good for me.