Bereavement Group Offered in Mayfield Village

Updated: Sept. 26 at 4 p.m.

Whether it's death, job loss or divorce, there's a process you need to go through to heal, according to the instructor of a bereavement group being formed in .

"The process to recover is the same no matter what the loss is," said Kim Loss, group facilitator and certified in grief recovery.

Bereavement group sessions were scheduled for Fridays afternoons starting Sept. 23 at the Mayfield Village Community Room, 6621 Wilson Mills Road. However, the program has been postponed until March 2012.

Loss is a bereavement assistant at Crossroads Hospice. "I do bereavement on a daily basis," she said.

The group is for people of all ages and situations, whether the loss is a death or a spouse, parent or child, or something else entirely. It also doesn't matter if the incident is recent or something that happened long ago.

"It can be something 20 years old, if it's something affecting your life," Loss said.

Sessions usually include a short reading assignment, followed by a chance "to reflect on things in that reading assignment that spoke to us," Loss said.

Because there is a book and assignments that go along with the program, Loss said new people cannot be added after the second or third meeting because they would be too far behind.

Loss said the assignments and program being followed sets the group apart from support groups that are less structured.

"There's a big difference from us and a regular support group," she said.

However, people still need to be willing to talk and can't be forced into healing, she added. For those who come and are hesitant to open up, she finds that it helps to share her own story.

"I explain my experience on each of the different crises I've been through," Loss said.

And, yes, Loss is actually her name – a question she's been asked at times considering her occupation.

For more information about the bereavement group, call Loss at 216-654-9199.