Grief Support Services

For More Information 919-644-6869

Overview

Duke Hospice Bereavement Services offers a safe and healing grief process for anyone adjusting to loss after the death of a loved one, including children and adults.

Support Community Members in Need

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Community members 18 and older can help Duke HomeCare & Hospice assist patients and their families in many ways, from knitting shawls to providing emotional support.

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Bereavement Services

We are a resource for grief education, offering community presentations, professional training, referrals, and networking for community resources.

Supporting Grieving Children and Teens Through COVID-19
We recognize the challenges COVID-19 creates for grieving children, and provide resources to help caregivers support them. COVID-19 brings a lot of uncertainty. Sadness, anger, and confusion are common in grief and may be amplified. The experience may also re-trigger past losses or feelings children had after losing a loved one. Explore these resources that we have compiled to help you cope with these challenges.

Available to Everyone
Our professional bereavement care is free of charge and available to all. Our team of licensed grief counselors includes professionals who can meet with adults as well as a counselor who specializes in child and teen grief. We also have volunteers trained in leading bereavement support groups. A Spanish-language interpreter is available by request. Group counseling is available to organizations for a fee. Donations are always welcome for our grief services, and allow us to support the community.

Bereavement Care
We offer a wide range of services for adults: short-term individual grief counseling, support groups, and grief workshops. Seasonal remembrance events are held in the fall and winter. Dates of services are updated regularly.

We provide crisis intervention services to organizations when sudden or traumatic death occurs.

For More Information

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Learn more about our services and how we can help you.

919-644-6869

Counseling and Support Groups

Individual Counseling

Description

We’re here to support you as you learn to live without your loved one. This counseling provides you with a safe environment to share your experience of loss with a trained bereavement counselor. Grief counseling is available by phone call or video visit. For more information about talking to a counselor or to schedule an appointment, call 919-644-6869. A referral by a parent or guardian is required for anyone under 18 years old.

Grief Support Groups

Description

We offer professional and peer support with three separate groups for those who have lost a child, spouse/partner, or parent. Groups provide an opportunity, in the company of others, to remember and honor a loved one. You’ll learn about grief, how the experience impacts others, and how they cope. It’s a place where you can share your story and listen, knowing you are not alone in a difficult time.

Our trained staff leads a rolling collection of weekly support groups that meet eight times over two months. Participants are expected to attend all sessions which are held virtually on Zoom. Our staff can place you in a support group that meets your availability. Call 919-644-6869 to register. Before joining a group, we'll schedule an initial meeting between you and a counselor to talk through your needs.

Once registered for a support group, you will meet at the same time on the same day each week. Families who are already using hospice services can join these groups at no cost. Our support groups are covered by Medicare benefits. If you are a community member in need, there is a one-time, recommended $25 donation to help defray costs.

For more information, contact our staff at 919-644-6869.

ReLEAF Connections

Description

This support program is for children in kindergarten through eighth grade who are grieving the death of a loved one. Attendees can connect with other kids who have experienced loss through activities like arts and crafts, movement exercises, games, discussions, and opportunities to remember and honor their loved ones.

ReLEAF Connections takes place from 6:00 to 7:30 pm the first Thursday of each month at Teer House in North Durham. To register, contact Tracy Lamar at tracy.lamar@duke.edu or 919-815-0592.

Camp ReLEAF
Camp ReLEAF is a grief camp for kindergarten through eighth grade who have experienced a loss. Camp will be held on April 22, 2023 at Camp New Hope in Chapel Hill, NC. Camp ReLEAF is designed to provide a safe and supportive place for children to express their grief through camp experiences that include arts and crafts, small group discussion, movement activities, and opportunities to remember and honor their loved one. Children learn ways to cope with their loss and know they are not alone. Camp ReLEAF is also designed to be a place where grieving children can be together and simply have fun.

If you have any questions contact dhchcamp@dm.duke.edu or call 919-644-6869.

Please register here by March 31, 2023.

Patient Resources

Download our brochure.

Grief Support Services (PDF, 1 MB)