Grief Support Services

For More Information 919-644-6869

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.

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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.

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 summer and winter.

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

For More Information

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

919-644-6869

Counseling and Support Groups

Individual Counseling

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

We bring together those who have experienced a similar loss, including the loss of 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 professional staff facilitate our eight-week support groups in the fall and spring each year. Participants are expected to attend all eight of the sessions, which may be held virtually or in-person. Call 919-644-6869 to register. Prior to joining a group, we’ll schedule an initial visit with one of the facilitators to review our group guidelines and talk through your needs.

For hospice families, the support groups are a part of their bereavement benefits. If you are a community member, there is a one-time, recommended $25 donation to help defray costs.

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

ReLEAF Connections

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 children in kindergarten through eighth grade who have experienced a loss. 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.

Find more information about our upcoming camp here.

Patient Resources

Download our brochure.

Grief Support Services (PDF, 1 MB)