Support Update – December 2022
Counselling
With the lead up to the end of the year, you may find a social withdrawal and a wave of emotions that feel uncomfortable and uncertain to the usual way you might feel at this time of year or even throughout the year since your loss. This time of year is full of should have beens and social expectations that might not fit with the way you feel – have a chat with us for strategies on how to cope and manage this unfamiliar journey.
Our team will be available for appointments until the 24th December. We will take a short break with Bec returning the 29th December and Kelly the 9th January 2023 for appointments. Our email support@bearsofhope.org.au will be accessed daily (except the 25th and 26th December) for communication and support.
Greg, Dorothy and Francesca will be back on deck mid-January however you can continue to use our booking system within this time to make future dated appointments. Sometimes it can be better to have one booked and change it, then to not have it at all.
We know that for many bereaved parents counselling is just another unknown, something that has never been considered up until this point. Perhaps friends and family are suggesting it to you, or you may have contemplated it yourself, but you haven’t made an appointment because it feels scary. The thought of talking about how you are feeling is something you don’t want to do, you just want it to go away or an hour with a stranger feels way too intimidating….we get this big time! So now you can book a 10min get to know us session – give yourself 10mins to focus on you and we can share what you can expect from an appointment with one of our team. Get to know us first so that we can help support you.
As part of our professional development and growth as counsellors, we also like to reach those that have used our counselling services and seek your thoughts on the way we practiced. It’s an anonymous questionnaire that enables us as a team to ensure we are doing what we are doing in a way that reflects the values we uphold.
Make A Booking Take Our Survey
Support Groups
We are so pleased to have these up and running again and have enjoyed the new social look they have taken. We look forward to extending them in the first part of 2023 to the Blue Mountains and Southern Sydney. We will continue to evaluate and expand this service as opportunities arise and thank our facilitators Sonja, Sally, Kimberley, Greg and Francesca for their time in running our ACT, Castle Hill, Central Coast and our Online groups. A very special shout out to my side kick Bec who has come on board this year to an overwhelming amount of start-ups and who manages to run all of our groups and queries and makes it look easy.
All groups (both Face to Face and online) will not run in January, however you can still register your interest.
If you joined one of our support groups sometime this year and no longer want to receive the RSVP notification, then please send an email to support@bearsofhope.org.au. We can unregister you from that link and save you the time of deleting the email each month. You are always welcome to return when the time feels right for you.
Health Professional Visits
We have been able to start our “In-services” to hospitals, obstetricians, GP’s and health clinics across Australia to inform them of the support services that Bears of Hope offers once a family returns to their home. We offer one on one chats with a team member or a more formal presentation. We don’t mind which way, as long as we can reach as many people as we can to ensure no bereaved parent is left isolated. If you were not able to receive our support information directly from a health service, then please let us know at support@bearsofhope.org.au so that we can reach out to them with information on how they can access ours.
Feedback
At the end of each year we like to seek your feedback on the supports we offer so that we can plan a future that meets the needs of those we support. Whether you have accessed our supports regularly, or just considered attending, then this is for you….a two minute survey to help guide us to the best practice we can offer.
And finally, as a team we would like to say a big thank you to those that have reached out to us this year. Grief is complicated and confusing and, in those moments, after we hear that devastating news, it can feel like the whole world has crumbled, leaving us vulnerable and under attack from our own thoughts and feelings. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your support team in finding ways to rebuild at the pace that fits for you.
We will be here in 2023 for you in whatever capacity suits your ever changing grief.
Kelly & the Support Team