Bereavement Services

Bereavement Support
Calvary Health Care Bethlehem provides Bereavement follow up services to bereaved relatives, and carers.

Our role includes:
Accredited Bereavement Counsellors provide professional intervention to assist in the process of mourning. This is to enable eventually, an acceptance of the finality of the bereaved’s loss, albeit, within the resolution of grief a recognition of continuing bonds with the deceased.

Goals:

Facilitate emotional release

Assist in recognition and expression of their yearning

Facilitate reality testing by review of death and its meaning

Promote other social support

Facilitate the acceptance of the finality of the loss

Monitor any increasing preoccupation with memories and a review of lost relationship

Review both negative and positive aspects of the lost relationship

Explore the expression of affects that this evokes

Exploration of future triggers that will arise in the months and years to follow

The counselors encourage the expression of grieving affects and promote the mourning process. This may include working through traumatic stress – syndrome effects that may relate to the circumstances of the death.

Other aspects of grief considered:

Inhibited

Suppressed

Absent

Distorted

Ceremony of Remembrance

All family members, carers, staff and volunteers are invited to the Chapel for a time of reflection and support.
This is held at 2:00pm on the first Friday of the month, four times a year March, June, September and December, except when there are public holidays falling around this time for example Easter time.

Education
Available to the ‘Bethlehem’ community as well as the wider community on request

Goals:

Open discussion of grief and mourning

The value of the support from others at times of crisis

Importance of honest and open attitudes

Recognition of other losses such as disability, aging, unemployment, separation, divorce.

Cultural differences acknowledged

Dispelling of myths and assumptions in relation to loss & grief

Staff Support:

Supervision

Debriefing

Education

The Children's Loss & Grief Program

This program extends support to children who have experienced loss and grief either through bereavement or family breakdown. Such support not only helps the children to understand their experience, and to move toward acceptance and positive readjustment, but also to develop life skills that will assist them throughout their lives.

It is targeted at children and adolescents between the ages of 4 - 18.

The sessions are held in a lovely comfortable atmosphere at Magnolia Cottage, in the grounds of Calvary Health Care Bethlehem. Sessions are held on a Monday morning,
either individually or within a group. There is only a minimum charge required to cover basic costs, such as paper, materials, etc.

For further information, please contact Bereavement Services on 03 9596 2853.

see also our Creative Connections Program