Support for Surviving Holidays After Loss

(Honesdale, November 7, 2017)…A free support group to help people cope with the upcoming holiday season after the loss of a loved one will be offered at Wayne Memorial Hospital. The six-week session will provide support and focus on grief as a normal part of an individual’s transition through life. The sessions will be held Tuesday evenings November 28, 2017 through January 2, 2018 from 6:00pm – 7:00pm in Conference Room #4 on the second floor of Wayne Memorial Hospital, 601 Park Street, Honesdale.

“The holidays can be especially difficult when a loved one who was usually there is gone,” explains Anna M. Walsh, social worker with Wayne Memorial Hospice. “Grief is experienced by each individual very differently,” she said, “There is no ‘right or wrong’ way, but sharing the experience often helps us understand our own losses more clearly. It makes us aware we are not alone in our feelings.”

During each session, participants will be encouraged to explore their own solutions to the challenges of living without their loved ones and dealing with the many changes that follow a loss, particularly during a holiday season. The support group will be facilitated by Rev. Edward K. Erb, Wayne Memorial Hospital and Hospice Chaplain and Ms. Walsh.  The group will provide a safe place in which individuals can sort out their feelings and share as they are able and willing.  No one will be required to share.

Neither will anyone be required to attend – or sit through – all sessions, although “your experience will be enhanced by attendance at all the sessions,” said Ms. Walsh.

For more information or to register call 570-241-2685 or 570-253-8384 or email edwardkerb@aol.com.