People who are grieving the loss of a loved one due to suicide will soon have a place to come together.
Rapids Family Health Team and Great Lakes Neurofeedback & Counselling have teamed up and will be hosting a suicide loss support group.
This will start in February and run for eight weeks before ending at the end of March.
Social worker Lisa Hodgins said this is not the first time the support group has been held.
She said it started in the fall of 2017 and that up until the pandemic there were two a year.
Additionally, the goal is to focus on the relationships with the loved one who was lost to suicide, and a focus on the trauma associated with suicide.
"We were able to touch approximately 16 to 18 individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide," Hodgins said.
She also believes having a support group like this one will help prevent a stigma about suicide.
"We need to start the conversation of suicide and the impact on family members and really being able to reach out and connect with another person who has lost a partner, a sibling, a child is so helpful," Hodgins explained.
She said there has been a need for something like this and that people have come to these groups from all over Lambton county and Chatham.
"The feedback that we continue to get from individuals who have attended has been just incredibly encouraging that we really need to continue that," she said.
There is a hope to have this support group permanently.
The suicide support group is free, so a number of community groups are advocating for more funding to keep it running.
She said the group is a welcoming space.
"People can feel very relaxed and just talk about their thoughts and their feelings about it and connect with others," Hodgins explained.
To be involved in the support group the person must have had some individual counselling and feel like they are ready for a group session to talk and share.
Those interested are being asked to contact Great Lakes Neuro Feedback.
The support group will be held at Rapids Family Health from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
