Map Your Healing Journey

Stronger Together is a grief support group bringing together parents who have lost children. This group has grown out of a relationship with a fellow mom in my community here in Portland, Oregon.

Our kids grew up together, going to the same elementary, middle, and high schools. They played on sports teams and had the same classes. A group of their friends played video games together, went to birthday parties, got jobs, started driving – all of the landmark events in the teen years.

You know, you never think you’ll go to the funeral of your child’s friend.

Grief Support From Loss

His name was Duncan. He died suddenly on a day in early March 2020, right before the pandemic started. He was 17 years old.

Duncan’s funeral was on a school day. I remember picking up Duncan’s friends – including my oldest – that day in front of the high school. They all wore black, some wore neckties. I felt my heart crack, seeing them there, and later as we sat, lined up in the church pew.

I was honored that Duncan’s mom, Terri, agreed to work with me through my very first Grief Recovery Method group. We made a connection, and by the end, we had agreed to collaborate to offer a grief support group especially for parents who have lost children.

Grief Support Group Details

Our very first Stronger Together grief support group for parents who have lost children begins Fall 2022 and the focus will be preparing for the holiday season. This group meets on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8 and runs for 8 weeks at a time. The Fall 2022 eight-week session begins September 14, 2022 and ends on November 9th (no group on 10/5). The investment for this group is $200.

At the end of 8 weeks, participants will benefit from:

☑️ A loose structure for getting to know people with similar losses

☑️ Exploring issues that relate to this loss and the resulting grief
☑️ An environment of curiosity, openness, and safety
☑️ Discussions on topics such as acknowledging the loss during the holidays, honoring the person or event, supporting spouses and surviving siblings, the evolution of pain in the grief process, dealing with other people’s discomfort and/or denial, letting go of pain and not the person, and more
☑️ Complete confidentiality
☑️ Power over your story and grief process
☑️ and more

Sliding scale is available. Contact Kelly Wilson at Map Your Healing Journey to learn more!

Don’t see a grief group that you are looking for? I love to collaborate. Contact me and let’s talk about what we can create together!