Workshop navigates through grief

Grief: everyone experiences it. While the word is more often used following a death, people grieve many kinds of loss: the end of a relationship; the loss of a job, limb, or health; a newly empty nest; even the loss of a dream can cause lasting grief.

Whatever the cause, grieving is a process. In 1969 psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross identified five stages of grief now widely accepted as standard - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While individuals grieve in different ways, many benefit from expressing and sharing at least some of their grief. Without that, lasting healing may be delayed or worse.

"It was a safe place to cry."

That's what one person called the five-session Grief Release workshop Joanie Dwyer runs at the Kroc Center; the next class begins tonight at 6:30 and runs each Tuesday through Oct. 4. The only cost is the workbook, $10. Dwyer says it's open to anyone who feels "the blur of pain, confusion, and bewilderment caused by loss of any kind." Dwyer took the same workshop when she was grieving; she told me it helped bring her life back into focus.

"I knew from experience that loss doesn't go away with time, but requires a process to let go of the pain," said Dwyer.

The curriculum was designed by Joanne Petrie, a bereavement counselor and hospice chaplain in Oregon. When friends saw Petrie coping so practically with the sudden loss of her husband of 25 years, they asked her how she navigated through all that pain. She wrote it down and the workshop was born.

Topics include therapeutic dialogue; rituals of release; journaling; loving again; men in grief; new normal; anger, guilt, and forgiveness; and how to say goodbye (in death and to the living). The course is team-facilitated by Dwyer and Brian Burkhalter, so men and women may feel comfortable and understood.

The workshop has been offered for 10 years through Lake City Community Church; Dwyer brought it to Kroc and it is open to the public (no church affiliation necessary). The course will be offered again Oct. 18 through Nov. 15. To register call Dwyer (208) 676-0632 or The Kroc Center (208) 667-6301.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email [email protected]