Hospice

The Grief Journey

Many people are taught that grief is something that happens in stages. However, this is not exactly true. While people may experience the feelings of what has been called “stages”, a better way to look at this is grief comes and goes, with people experiencing similar responses, but at their unique times. Every person begins their grief journey in their own way and every journey is unique.  There are emotional, cognitive and physical side effects of grief.

St. Elizabeth Hospice offers a full array of grief services for families of our patients, as well as to the public.  One is not required to have received hospice services in order to receive our grief support services. All grief counseling and support groups provided by St. Elizabeth Hospice are open to the public and are not limited to those having received hospice care.

Grieving Children and Teens

Children and young adults have unique emotional needs after the loss of a loved one. Many people assume that children are too young to really understand what’s going on. Children and young adults are also often sheltered from death and loss, in an attempt by those who care for them, to protect them. Adults dealing with grief may have a hard time themselves focusing on the needs of a child, in addition to their own.

This is understandable. However, this can make grieving even harder for children and young adults. It’s important to try to guide children and young adults through this hard time. The process of helping a child through their grieving journey, can be incredibly healing for an adult.