For an up to date schedule of our grief support programs, events, and community memorials visit our calendar.
Are you grieving a loss or walking alongside someone who is?
Grieving the death of a loved one can be a painful and lonely experience. It is the realization our lives are changed forever. It alters our relationships and our sense of identity. It disrupts our daily habits and can leave us grieving for hopes and dreams of an imagined future together. Frequently, it is difficult for us to know if the feelings and reactions we are experiencing are normal ones. Society can encourage us to “get over it and get on with life,” leading to further pain and isolation.
Grief is the natural response to profound loss and is the expression of the strong bond you had with the person who died. No two people grieve in exactly the same way and how we express our grief is influenced by many things, such as our religious and personal beliefs, the circumstances of the death, and how we dealt with previous losses.
Grief is a normal and natural response to loss that can include a whole array of feelings that deserve attention and care such as:
- Trouble sleeping and eating
- Guilt
- Fatigue
- Anger
- Difficulty believing the death occurred
- Mood swings
- Inability to focus
- Depression
- Sensing the loved one’s presence or voice
- Feeling abandoned
Hospicare can help. To learn more about our grief support services, fill out the form below or call us at 607-272-0212.
Grief Support Programs
Hospicare offers grief support services for all those who live in Tompkins or Cortland County, regardless of whether your loved one used Hospicare services. No one will be turned away because of inability to pay.
Participating in these programs provides you with the opportunity to share thoughts, feelings, and experiences with others in similar situations and can enhance the healing process and reduce a sense of isolation.
Support Groups & Workshops
We host a variety of support groups both in Ithaca and in Cortland. Some are ongoing, some are time-limited and some are specific to a particular relational loss (such as the loss of a spouse/partner or bereaved parents). See our calendar for upcoming events and grief support groups.
Grief Counseling
Individual grief counseling is available to family members and loved ones of Hospicare patients for 13 months following the death. We also extend six session of individual grief counseling to anyone grieving the death of a loved one who resides in either Tompkins or Cortland County and is over the age of 18. Please contact us to set up a time to meet with one of our professional licensed grief counselors.
Resources
Check out resource page with articles and downloadable PDFs to help you navigate this time. We also maintain a library of books and other materials that are located at the Hospicare residence for anyone to borrow.
Community Referrals
Hospicare can link you and your family members with other community agencies and therapists when needed.
“Grief can be so overwhelming because it forces us to feel everything at the same time. We can be both thankful for the gift of a loved one’s life and influence, and tortured by the thought of that person’s death. The key to knowing how to respond to these fractured feelings is by staying present to them. Feelings are like the antennae of the soul. Feelings can give us enormous insight and information—if we learn how to pay attention.”
– Rev. Tim Dean, chaplain, Cayuga Medical Center