Widowed Support Groups
Facing the challenges of widowhood together
In addition to intense grief, there are many new life challenges that widowhood brings.
The Grief Connect® Young Widowed Support Group and Over 55s Widowed Support Group are for anyone who has experienced the death of a partner. Both support groups provide a safe space where you can connect online and support each other through the ups and downs of grief and bereavement. Face to face catch-ups are also organised where you can meet other members.
Support for young widows
Becoming a widow at a young age has a profound and lasting impact, especially if the death of your spouse was a shock, or if you have young children.
In the Grief Connect® Young Widowed Support Group, you can expect to find a safe and supportive community of men and women, discussing anything from:
- Finding ‘you’ and your ‘new normal’
- Parenting young children
- How to talk to children about death
- Repartnering
- Cognitive decline and ‘widow fog’
- Dealing with important dates such as anniversaries, birthdays and death dates
- Dealing with complex emotions and responses such as anger, guilt and trauma
- And lots of happy memories shared and milestones celebrated
Support for over 55s
While losing a partner after many years may not always come as a surprise, it can still be a complex and traumatic experience.
In the Over 55s Widowed Support Group, you can expect to find a safe and supportive community of men and women, discussing anything from:
- Relationships with adult children
- Continuing with work
- Reforming who you are/ your new identity
- Repartnering
- The grief associated with long term relationships and marriages
- Managing feelings of loneliness, especially in the evenings/nights
- Reimagining what retirement looks like ‘We won’t go travelling around Australia like we planned’
- Thinking of the future with a sense of hope
- And lots of happy memories shared and milestones celebrated
What you can expect
Relaxed
A judgement Free zone
Support
Support from others who ‘get it’
Safe Space
A safe space to share your story
A safe and supportive environment
The psychological safety of group members is really important. Both groups are managed in line with the Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and Practice Standands. We also encourage group members to prioritise their own mental well being, and support each other as we move through different grief mindsets.
“We get no choice. If we love, we grieve.”
– Thomas Lynch
It gave me hope again
‘After my late partner Nathan died in 2018, I felt so isolated in my grief, despite having strong support from my family and community. So four months after Nathan’s death, I founded the Grief Connect® Young Widowed Support Group – an online support group with in-person catch ups. The connections with other widowed people were life changing. I realised that “I was not alone” in my grief, and that there were other people who had survived, were thriving and living with joy in their life.’ The Over 55s group extends that support to all widowed people. By joining our groups, no widowed person grieves alone are surrounded by others who “get it”.