After a loved one dies, people often have an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. They feel lost, and the process of despairing and searching begins. Not only has our loved one died, we’ve lost our sense of connection. “S/He was my life.”
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Grief Support Groups Serving West Los Angeles, Encino and Agoura Hills
Grief Support Groups Serving West Los Angeles, Encino and Agoura Hills
Posts by Jo Christner, Psy.D. (Page 4)
Being alone without another person’s physical presence is an interesting circumstance.
Isn’t it already painful enough that your spouse died and you’ve been thrust into a solitary life that you didn’t ask for and don’t want? Circumstances like a pandemic make the reality even more challenging. You’re being told to stay at home (often totally alone) and to social distance. Social distancing when we’re social beings is such a contradiction to what we’ve always been taught and encouraged. Even if it’s for the good of all, it still causes a conflict — cognitive dissonance, inside. It’s not what we believe to be true. We want and yearn human contact and connection.
One person may say — “Closure? Will there ever be an end to this horrible pain of grief? When will I get the closure that I hear about? I’m done. I’m not going to grieve anymore!” And another person may say — “I don’t want closure. I never want to let go. How can I possibly say goodbye forever to my loved one? I’m so confused. Am…
In Hebrew, the number 18 is “chai,” which means “Life.” So it is only appropriate that today – January 18, 2018 – is the official launch of HOPE Connection’s “A Celebration of Life” Bowl-a-thon. This event is being sponsored by our longtime supporter, Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, and will take place at Pinz Bowl, 12655 Ventura Blvd., Studio City 91604, on…
When a loved one is no longer with us, we often miss being held and holding someone. That sense of purpose to take care of someone, to take a walk with, to prepare a meal for is gone. Sometimes having a pet gives us that sense of purpose. So often pets love us unconditionally. We can talk to them and they never argue.…
Do you know someone who is grieving a loved one? You can help that person by introducing them to HOPE Connection. Let them know there is a community ready to support them, a community led by trained therapists and whose members know exactly what they are going through because they have been there. A second way to help is by donating to…
I exhale. The breath born but a moment ago recedes into the past as I await the next breath to begin. Because every breath is a gateway between past and future, breathing is an ever-present metaphor for the temporal world in which we live. Nature’s patterns proceed in rhythms. Requiring belief in life’s continuity in stark counter-point to the reality of our…
I can’t find my keys! Where are those papers that I signed? I know they’re here somewhere. Oh, no, I forgot my doctor’s appointment… again. This is my 2nd fender bender in the last month. I have bruises all over from bumping into things. I’m so very tired. I just can’t think straight anymore. What is wrong with me? Am I going…
Los Angeles & Ventura County Grief Support Groups The mission of HOPE Connection is to help people whose lives have been touched by the death of a loved one – by providing individual and group support, educational programs and information that helps alleviate the pain of grief and promote healing. In this series of videos, Group Members share what HOPE Connection has…
Losing a parent is a unique event, and HOPE Connection’s Parent Loss Groups have proven to be just as invaluable as our Spousal Loss Groups. Here, Sydell Weiner gives a powerful testimony to the life-long effect of losing a parent. Click here for more information about HOPE Connection’s Parental Loss Groups. I ride to the cemetery with my step-sister’s daughter, a red-headed…