The festive holidays can be overwhelming emotionally when a loved one has died or you are facing your last Christmas together.

 

We offer bereavement support to people who have experienced the death of a loved one who was under the care of the hospice.

 

There is no time limit on accessing support. Some people need support early in their bereavement, whereas others may get in touch with us years down the line.

 

Service

 

As part of our Patient & Family Support Team, our Adult Bereavement Support offers an Early Bereavement Listening Service, Early Bereavement Peer Support Group and Bereavement Counselling.

 

Adult Bereavement Support has a compassionate and experienced team of listening and group-work volunteers, as well as volunteer counsellors and student counsellors on placement.

 

We have also launched an online Grief Chat function via our website in partnership with ‘Much Loved’ where a trained bereavement counsellor will be available between 9am and 9pm, and an AI support service can be accessed outwith those hours.

 

We are delighted to share we have two new members in our Bereavement Support Team – Kirsty, who is a Hospice Counsellor, and Jane, our Adult Bereavement Lead.

 

Kirsty was a staff nurse in the NHS for 14 years and then retrained as an integrative counsellor in 2017. She said: “During my training I was a student counsellor with Strathcarron, and then volunteer counsellor. It was such a lovely and supportive place to work that I always hoped to eventually have a permanent post with the Hospice, which I am now very grateful to have.

 

“I work in the Patient and Family Support Team to provide emotional pre-bereavement support to families as well as providing counselling to family and friends who have experienced the death of a loved one under care of the hospice.”

 

Jane, added: “I am a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and worked in my own private counselling practice before joining Strathcarron Hospice. Before that I worked for a local mental health charity for 10 years in various supportive roles; crisis support, social prescribing and counselling, and then into senior management.

 

“I have always found supporting people with bereavement extremely meaningful, so getting the opportunity to work at Strathcarron Hospice, where the focus is on providing the highest quality of care to patients and families, is something I am extremely grateful for.

 

“Supporting people who are grieving can be emotional and difficult at times, but to be trusted with people’s stories, memories and emotions, as well as being witness to people’s strength, love and resilience every day is something I find incredibly valuable and worthwhile.”

 

You can find further information and advice on our Bereavement Hub Bereavement Resources | Strathcarron Hospice

Or email [email protected].

 

Much Loved is a free online grief chat service Free online grief chat service | MuchLoved