Should I Attend a Grief Workshop?

Before signing up for and attending, I knew grief, loss and transition workshops have value. I knew this from more than an intellectual understanding. I previously had attended a twelve-week workshop on three different occasions.

• Twelve years earlier my late wife and I attend the course offered by our church following my mother-in-law’s death.
• Four years ago I attended a second time after my mother’s death.
• I again took the course the fall before my wife’s death. This time my ninety years old father had passed away.

After My Wife Died

My wife died in April of 2018. In September 2018 I saw a blurb in my church bulleting advertising the course. I ran from early September to the week before Thanksgiving. I signed up for the class.

From experience, I knew the workshop would help me deal with my personal losses, as well as the challenges of both my current responsibilities and new responsibilities I had inherited from my late wife.

Seven Ways A Grief Workshop Helped Me After My Wife’s Death

The workshop also helped me as I transitioned to my new normal.

1. To Provide a safe place to share our stories so that we can move from isolation to connection, and from judgment to compassion.
2. To work through our fears, anger, and shame in order to be more open to love, joy, and respect.
3. To further the grieving process of old and current losses.
4. To understand the difference between healthy and dysfunctional communication.
5. To relearn the use of natural/healthy emotions in order to live more fully in the present.
6. To find balance in our physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual lives.
7. To listen and care more deeply without taking on the pain of others.