As a counsellor the more people I met, the more I became aware of how many found it difficult to deal with their loss and subsequent grief, or felt that there was something wrong with them, for the way they were reacting to it.
After chatting about the way grief impacts on us, and that it is individual for each person, people began to accept ore readily that their responses were okay. The grief café was therefore set up to:
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What is the grief cafe
Grief is our way of trying to deal with the loss of someone or something and the deep sorrow attached to this, and in so doing can be one of the biggest challenges we have to face in our life.
Grief can overwhelm our whole sense of being, as well as the way we live our lives, and impact on our emotional, physical, psychological and behavioural well-being.
However, in the main these are all normal reactions to the pain of dealing with loss, and whilst there is no one way to grieve there are ways to understand what grief is, and how to react to it.
Grief is usually associated with the death of someone but can also be the result of:
The cafe allows people to find out:
The café can take place in a physical form, through scheduled events and meeting slots, which are advertised through the site and eventbrite. During this time people get the chance to ask questions and gain information about grief and the way they might deal with it. There's also opportunity to talk to other attendees about their grief.
The Grief Café will also be run online, as well as provide information, links and resources about loss, grief and how to work through this.
Whilst the cafe deals with the impact of bereavement at the moment, there are plans to broaden this approach with events covering other losses such as: job loss, redundancy, illness, changings schools and relationship loss to name but a few.
Grief can overwhelm our whole sense of being, as well as the way we live our lives, and impact on our emotional, physical, psychological and behavioural well-being.
However, in the main these are all normal reactions to the pain of dealing with loss, and whilst there is no one way to grieve there are ways to understand what grief is, and how to react to it.
Grief is usually associated with the death of someone but can also be the result of:
- Relationship breakdown
- Job issues including retirement
- Moving home or area
- The death of a pet
- Serious illness
- The effects of trauma
The cafe allows people to find out:
- what grief is
- how it impacts on us
- and strategies to try and deal with it
The café can take place in a physical form, through scheduled events and meeting slots, which are advertised through the site and eventbrite. During this time people get the chance to ask questions and gain information about grief and the way they might deal with it. There's also opportunity to talk to other attendees about their grief.
The Grief Café will also be run online, as well as provide information, links and resources about loss, grief and how to work through this.
Whilst the cafe deals with the impact of bereavement at the moment, there are plans to broaden this approach with events covering other losses such as: job loss, redundancy, illness, changings schools and relationship loss to name but a few.