FREE family support group when a child has been diagnosed with cancer

Am honoured to be co-facilitating this FREE support group for families when a child has been diagnosed with cancer.

Each evening session begins with community-building and a light dinner is provided for all in attendance. This family support group at Wellspring is professionally facilitated and provides an opportunity for parents of children with cancer to connect for mutual support, for the sharing of ideas, for discussion and for networking. While the parents meet, the children (ages 5-13) will meet simultaneously in a separate group and focus on themed therapeutic activities designed to assist with their psychosocial needs.

Upcoming Dates:

• Mon Mar 18, 2019: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

• Mon Mar 25, 2019: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

• Mon Apr 1, 2019: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

• Mon Apr 8, 2019: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Registration is Required. Please note: This program requires a commitment for families to attend all sessions. For information, or to register, please contact 905-257-1988 or 1-877-499-9904.

Joe Primo on Supporting Grieving Children

"There is a cultural narrative that tells us that bad things don’t happen to good people. As a result, we spend a lot of time protecting kids from natural life events, like death."

Source: Joe Primo on Supporting Grieving Children. Option B

10 Things My Chronic Illness Taught My Children

"All three of us work to maintain balance — knowing when we need to flex and when we need to release, when to put pain first and when to let it fade into the moment."

Source: 10 Things My Chronic Illness Taught My Children

Parenting Through Illness & Grief

"This one page handout provides an overview of the findings from a research study of parent caregivers. The study was conducted as a collaboration between Dr. Jay Children`s Grief Centre and the Nanny Angel Network" 

Source: Parenting Through Illness & Grief. Canadian Virtual Hospice

Camp Erin: Where Children and Teens Learn to Grieve and Heal

Am honoured to volunteer with Camp Erin. It is indeed a remarkable community and one that nurtures capacity in children and youth to grieve the death of a loved one.

"Children and teens ages 6-17 attend a transformational weekend camp that combines traditional, fun camp activities with grief education and emotional support, free of charge for all families. Led by grief professionals and trained volunteers, Camp Erin provides a unique opportunity for youth to increase levels of hope, enhance self-esteem, and especially to learn that they are not alone.

Camp Erin is offered in every Major League Baseball city as well as additional locations across the U.S. and Canada. The Moyer Foundation partners with hospices and bereavement organizations to bring hope and healing to thousands of grieving children and teens each year.

Camp Erin allows youth to:

• Tell their story in a safe environment
• Process grief in healthy ways
• Meet friends facing similar circumstances
• Learn they are not alone
• Build a tool-box of coping skills
• Honor and memorialize loved ones
• Have fun!"

Source: Camp Erin. The Moyer Foundation 

For information on Camp Erin locations in Ontario, please visit: Camp Erin Hamilton; Camp Erin Toronto; Camp Erin Eastern Ontario; Camp Erin Montreal

A Loud Voice: Dear Dead Mother. Conversations about #life, #love, and #loss with the mother I've never known. #Grief #Bereavement

"Silence is not always self-imposed.  Sometimes those of us who want to grieve out loud feel immense pressure to stay quiet and move on.  This pressure can be communicated to us in so many ways – when people look away, when words are whispered across quiet rooms, when we are explicitly told not to dwell on negative things.  When the people we love most and want to protect seem to fall apart when we talk about the dead".

"Before You Know It Something's Over". The #Death of a #Parent.

"I want to talk to you about how it feels to spend your whole life grieving, to have your ghosts precede your actuality, to feel that nobody you know will ever truly know you because they never knew him. To recycle fourteen years of material like a song that never gets old, because you’re just so frustrated that there’ll never be a new album, even though everybody else is probably sick of the song and likes your new songs so much better. I want to talk to you about how I got free".