Bereavement Support
Monday 21st December
- The Lantern
Grief affects us all differently and can be one of the loneliest experiences you or someone you love can go through. The pandemic has had a huge impact on the grieving process, as we face unprecedented restrictions on hospital and care home visits, some families have been unable to say goodbye to a loved one, and there have been various restrictions surrounding funerals. There is also the isolation, when you need people the most you are being forced to spend time apart from friends and family, compounded with feelings of worry about external situations, it makes the grieving process more difficult.
It is therefore important to identify if grief is having an impact on your mental health and seek the necessary support, especially during these difficult times.
Some of the most common symptoms of grief include:
- Shock and numbness, this is usually the first reaction to loss, and people often say they feel like they are in a daze.
- Overwhelming sadness and crying
- Tiredness and exhaustion
- Anger towards the person you have lost or the reason for your loss
- Guilt, for example about something you said or did not say, or not being able to say goodbye.
It is important to remember that these feelings may not be there all the time, and waves of grief may appear unexpectedly. Farleigh Hospice’s bereavement team is here to help, offering support through its experienced team of councillors and volunteers, providing emotional and practical support to bereaved young people and adults across mid-Essex. The team supports anyone within the community and you do not need to have a previous connection with the hospice.
Our adult circle bereavement team offers a range of services including telephone and 1 to 1 support, counselling, support groups, information and advice, and bereavement help points.
We also support children and young adults from 4 to 18 years of age through our Yo-Yo project, once again providing 1 to 1 support and counselling. We also offer art therapy, outdoor activity days, and workshops for parents and carers.
In these current times, we are unable to provide face-to-face support. However, we have adapted our services to ensure we can continue to care for our community.
Our staff and volunteers have extended our telephone bereavement service and online counselling, enabling us to offer bereavement support throughout the current pandemic.
During the year, we have regularly reviewed our services, introducing new online support groups for patients, carers, and the bereaved. All our new services have been well received, and we will be running more online support over the coming months.
We hope to return to face-to-face support as soon as possible, but this will not be until 2021. In the meantime, we are aware that winter is upon us and Christmas is just around the corner, so please take care of yourselves, stay safe and if you need support, please contact us.
Circle Bereavement Services for adults - telephone 01245 457308 or email circle@farleighhospice.org
Yo-Yo Bereavement Project for young people - telephone 01245 457416 or email yoyoproject@farleighhospice.org
