Glenn Family Services is hosting a free seminar for those grieving the loss of a loved one, divorce, health crisis or loss of a job this Christmas.
The seminar, lead by bereavement specialist Harold Ivan Smith, offers grief-tested holiday survival strategies and practical suggestions for those who want to support grievers through this season.
The FREE seminar will be held in the parish hall at Our Lady of Lourdes, 4029 Frederica Street, on Tuesday, December 8. There will be two sessions: 1:30-3 p.m and 6 -7:30 p.m.
The seminar has three objectives:
- Identify ways to confront grief and loss during the December holidays.
- Explore the specific elements of holidays that can trigger fresh grief.
- Strategize ways to accept and decline holiday responsibilities.
“It’s difficult to go through a usually joyous season with an empty heart or an empty chair,” said Glenn Taylor, President of Glenn Family Services. “More than 25 years ago, we realized that dealing with grief during the holidays doesn’t come with an instruction book. That’s when we introduced the area’s first community program designed to provide a guiding hand, an understanding voice, and the assurance that there are indeed positive ways to make those no longer with us part of the season.”
Harold Ivan Smith is known as a storyteller. He wrote A Decembered Grief: Living with Loss During the Holidays and ABC’s of Healthy Bereaving. He is a bereavement specialist on the teaching faculties of Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Carondolet Medical Institute in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is recognized as a Fellow in Thanatology by the Association for Death Education and Counseling.
