Help for Coping With the Death of a Loved One
The Chaplaincy Department of Memorial Hermann Health System has gathered the following resources to help support people in Houston, Texas, and the surrounding communities. We hope that you and your loved ones will find these resources to be helpful at your time of loss.
- Addressing Practical Matters & Urgent Needs
- Grieving Adults
- Grieving Special Circumstances
- Grief & Covid-19
- Help for Young Adults
- Help for Children & Adolescents
- Help for Those Grieving Pregnancy Loss or the Loss of a Newborn
- Grieving the Loss of a Child
- Chaplaincy Services of Memorial Hermann
"What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
Help for Addressing Practical Matters & Urgent Needs
- AARP: What to Do When a Loved One Dies
- Burial Assistance: If you are at a hospital or have hospice services, social workers, chaplains, or case managers may be able to assist you further in locating financial assistance for burial and cremation. Your local county burial assistance program will be able to direct you to available resources:
- Houston, Texas: Harris County Burial Assistance Program: (713) 692-1952
- Texas Fort Bend Pauper and Indigent Burial Services: (281) 238-3502
- Texas Montgomery, Liberty, and Walker County Indigent Burial Assistance: (936) 539-7812
- Other areas: Contact your local county offices for information on resources for burial assistance.
- 211 United Way Helpline: If you are struggling or are in need of resources, support is available to everyone in the Greater Houston region by dialing "2-1-1." Trained professionals answer the line 24/7, 365 days a year to assist you with accessing community resources including homeless shelters and survivor services, counseling support, food aid, medical aid, resources for veterans, addiction treatment resources, support for people with disabilities, natural disaster recovery assistance, and more. Support is available in over 90 languages. Just dial 2-1-1, or see their site to find out more: https://www.unitedwayhouston.org/211/.
- Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress is available to you and your loved ones at 9-8-8.
Help for Grieving Adults
- Bo's Place is a local Houston non-profit that serves adults, children, and adolescents healing from grief. They offer bereavement support, including educational materials, grief support groups and recommendations for people in the Houston area who are coping with the death of a loved one. A variety of their educational resources are provided below. For more information and additional resources, see their website: https://www.bosplace.org or call (713) 942-8339.
- Printable Resources:
- Tasks of Mourning:
- Center for Loss & Life Transition: This site was created by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, a well-known grief counselor. Below are some of the resources available through the site:
- The Montrose Center of Houston provides support to LGBTQ communities, including general counseling services and group counseling. Additional services, including housing support, HIV services, substance abuse services and others are also available.
- Soaring Spirits has one goal; to connect widowed people with each other. They accomplish this by providing resources to the newly widowed such as regional social groups, a 24/7 online community, Widowed Pen Pals, Camp Widow, the Widow’s Voice blog and You are not Alone Outreach.
- Recommended Books:
- Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart, by Alan D. Wolfelt
- The Unwanted Gift of Grief, by Tim P. VanDuivendyk, DMin
- Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief, by Martha Whitmore Hickman
- Podcasts & Audio:
"Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life."
Help for Those Grieving Special Circumstances
- Healing Your Traumatized Heart: Seeking Safety, Understanding, and Peace
- Grief After Traumatic Loss
- National Suicide Prevention Hotline: If your grief or other distress is leading to thoughts of self-harm, there is hope, 9-8-8.
- The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors
- Helping Yourself Heal When Someone You Care About Dies of a Drug Overdose
- Help for Grieving Multiple Losses: Living in the Shadow of the Ghosts of Grief: An Introduction
Grief & Covid-19
Grieving the loss of a loved one during the Covid-19 pandemic can present many unique challenges for bereaved individuals. Many people may have not been able to see their loved ones before they died due to safety precautions. The death may have been sudden or unexpected. Some families have had multiple members infected and even suffered multiple deaths. In addition to losing loved ones, one may be coping with the stress of having one's life upended by the pandemic in many ways.
Grief is not limited to the death of a loved one. Our greater Houston community, our state, country, and our world are going through a global crisis. This crisis has impacted the physical, mental, and spiritual health, as well as to the safety and economic security, of so many. A crisis such as this can provoke grief as well as trauma for many individuals.
You may be grieving the loss of a job, or struggling with loneliness at not being able to visit with family or friends. You may be having to adapt to working from home, are working under new safety precautions, or have lost a job. You may be struggling with child care or be concerned about your child’s schooling. You may be grieving how life was for you before this crisis.
The multiple stresses of life right now might be compounded and feel unmanageable. It is important to seek support for one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being during the pandemic.
We hope the resources on this page may be of support to you and your loved ones.
- Very Well Mind: Understanding Grief in the Age of the Covid-19 Pandemic
- American Psychological Association: Grief and Covid-19: Mourning our bygone lives
- Psychology Today: Covid-19 and Ambiguous Loss
Help for Young Adults
- Actively Moving Forward offers support groups for young adults.
- The Dinner Party is a resource particularly aimed at supporting people in their 20s and 30s coping with loss. They organize local dinner events in different cities, including Houston and the surrounding areas, where people can gather to support one another in their experiences with grief.
- Modern Loss is a blog where people share experiences with grief.
- AARP: Tips to Understanding a Millennial in Mourning
"And when great souls die, after a period, peace blooms, slowly and irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed."
Help for Children & Adolescents
Many families often have questions about how to best support children and adolescents experiencing grief and loss. There are numerous resources available to support children, adolescents and their families coping with grief. The websites and resources below may offer a good starting place:
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Bo's Place Support Groups for Children & Adolescents: Bo's Place is located in Houston and offers free support to the community.
- Young Adult Support Group
- Children Support Groups
- Print Resources:
- A Child's Behavior Is Like an Iceberg
- Back to School: Grief in the Classroom
- Children and Funerals
- Grief & Discipline
- Helping Children Remember the Deceased
- How to Help a Grieving Child
- How to Support a Grieving Child Returning to School
- Talking to Grieving Children About Dating
- Talking With Children About Death
- Grief & Guilt
- Sleep Issues: Insomnia, Vivid Dreams & Co-Sleeping
- Gratitude
- Worry and Grief in Children
- Camp Kangaroo: Bereavement camp for children who have experienced the death of someone close to them.
- The Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children & Families
- Coalition to Support Grieving Students
- Sesame Street® has developed a number of resources that are printable, in addition to videos that you can watch with your children of different ages.
- Sesame Street® Resource Kit: Videos, activities and more.
- Sesame Street® Grief Toolkit
- Sesame Street® Grief Book for Children
- Sesame Street® Grief Family Guide
- Recommended Reading (Books):
- Healing a Child's Grieving Heart, by Alan D. Wolfelt
- Guiding Your Child Through Grief, by James P. Emswiler and Mary Ann Emswiler
- Recommended reading list from Bo's place for:
Help for Those Grieving Pregnancy Loss & Infant Deaths
- Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital Pregnancy Loss Support Group for Parents
Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital offers bereavement support group for parents who have experienced a pregnancy loss. The group meets the first Thursday of the month from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. (Room 103) and the third Thursday of the month from 7 - 8:30 p.m. (Room 201).
The meeting will be at the Hope and Healing Center & Institute (717 Sage Rd, Houston, Texas 77056) in the Family Room.
Please call (713) 704-0600 to register for the Group Session or email casey.hedges@memorialhermann.org.
If you are unable to register, walk-ins are welcome. - Bo's Place Pregnancy Loss Group in Houston. Groups are hosted at their center, and Bo's Place is also able to refer you to local groups in your area. Bo's Place provides free support services for the whole family dealing with grief.
- Share is a national organization with local chapters to support people experiencing loss of a pregnancy or infant. Local support groups meet in Houston and several of the surrounding communities.
- Through the Heart: Pregnancy loss support & education
- M.E.N.D. (Mommies Enduring Neonatal Death) is a non-profit Christian organization supporting women and families who have suffered miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death.
- Modern Loss: Miscarriage and stillbirth
- Helping Your Family Heal After a Stillbirth
Help for Those Grieving the Loss of a Child
- Bo's Place is a wonderful resource in Houston for free support to adults and children suffering from the pain of loss. Find out about their resources for support to adults, children and adolescents through their site: https://www.bosplace.org.
- The Compassionate Friends: This national organization provides bereavement support to parents and families who have lost a child. There are local grief support groups in Houston and the surrounding communities where parents are able to support one another in the grieving process. Free bereavement packets and information about how to connect with local support groups are available through their website.
- Helping Yourself Heal When Your Child Dies
- Bereaved Parents of the USA
- HealGrief®: Grieving the Death of a Child
Grief Support Groups
Gathering with other bereaved individuals who are coping with the death of a loved one can be a source of support and encouragement as one navigates the grief process. Support groups for children, adolescents, families and adults are also available free of charge at Bo’s Place. Support is available in English as well as Spanish. You can also reach out to Bo’s Place’s referral line at (713) 942-8339, or click here to find out more. Groups are being held virtually at this time.
Grief Counseling
For many individuals, one-on-one grief counseling support can be an essential component of the healing process. If your employer or school has counseling support available, you may want to reach out to find out more about what counseling may be offered for free. You may also contact your insurance company to inquire if counseling services are covered and to obtain a list of in-network therapists.
The Psychology Today website is another resource where you can search for counselors in your area by various criteria including specialization (such as “grief counseling” or “bereavement counseling”). Bo’s Place can also provide a list of grief counselors who provide services on a sliding scale per request through their referral line at (713) 942-8339.
Memorial Hermann Employees can access grief support counseling through the Employee Assistance Program or the Wellness Team. More information on these programs can be accessed through OneSource.
Grief Is a Process
Grief is an ongoing process. While some may feel an expectation to "get over" a loss quickly, most people find that it takes time to heal. It may take more time than we ever imagined. There may be ups and downs. Everyone experiences grief differently, and being compassionate to yourself and others going through grief can be beneficial. It could be months or even years before you begin to feel more like yourself again after a difficult loss. As you navigate coping with the pain of loss, you may find it helpful to have the support of friends, loved ones, counselors and support groups. We hope these resources are a comfort to you and your loved ones as you begin the healing process.