Balancing Life & Loss:  Parenting After Loss Group

The question is “In the midst of grief, how do you stop parenting the deceased child while you are simultaneously struggling to meet the parenting needs of the children who remain?”

• Are you having trouble parenting your surviving children although it has been some time since your baby died?
• Do you feel anxious, a sense of vulnerability and overprotectiveness of your children that feels out of control at times?
• Do you feel that you need continued support, while your partner seems to have “moved on”?

The Balancing Life & Loss: Parenting After Loss Group addresses the needs of bereaved parents who, after a tragic loss, need to continue living and parenting their surviving children.

Bereaved parents have ongoing emotional needs after their child has died.  It can be invaluable to be able to open up to other bereaved parents with surviving children about the same struggles and challenges, as well as victories and hopes.

Research has found bereaved parents do not "recover" from the loss. Instead, bereaved parenting is an act of regeneration – picking up the pieces in the face of the devastation, and regenerating both a sense of self, and a sense of the family.

Topics Include:

• Sharing your story
• Keeping a journal
• Dealing with your powerlessness, feelings of vulnerability and overprotectiveness
• Your marriage- understanding the different paths through grief and loss
• Your family and its priorities – a new normal
• Family rituals – honoring the memory of your baby who died through the years
• Using visualization to reduce anxiety and increase hopefulness
• Trusting yourself / tuning up your intuition
• Picking up the pieces – regeneration of the self