PEER SUPPORT FOR GRIEVING YOUTH
Programs & Services
Ages of 13-24 by referral
We provide safe spaces for grieving youth
Everyone experiences loss, but for youth, the process can particularly difficult. At Friends of Living and Learning Through Loss, we’ve designed workshops and programs to support youth and young adults, arming them with tools and skills they can use to manage their grief and loss in healthy ways. The success of our work is based on a model of peer support, compassion, connection, understanding, and learning. Download a PDF overview of our services.
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We offer free individual counselling for South Island residents (up to eight sessions). LTL delivers services on a cost recovery basis. Some fees may apply for education and support programs but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Our interactive Good Grief Workshops support school districts in providing grief education to youth by opening up the conversation on what grief is, what it feels like and how it can impact so much. In this workshop, our facilitator speaks to the commonality of grief and loss and the process grief often follows.
Through shared discussion, experiential activities, and personal reflection, we offer a space for youth to explore what grief is and the different types of losses that they may experience.
Topics covered include
1. Different responses to loss
2. How to recognize grief in self and others
3. How to express one’s feelings
4. When to ask for help
5. Common coping skills and strategies for healing
Workshops are offered virtually through our secured Zoom Healthcare platform during COVID-19
Good Grief Workshop
While there is no set timeframe for grief, our short-term grief counselling support is provided by registered clinical counsellors to serve those immediately affected by loss. Counselling is available to eligible youth and young adults between the ages of 13-24 by referral, and older youth can self-refer.
Counselling provides one-on-one support to youth experiencing grief and loss who can benefit from individual counselling.
Please note LTL does not provide complex trauma services.
To access counselling services, please complete the counselling referral form below.
Learning Through Loss
Group Program
The Learning Through Loss Group Program is an eight-week, sixteen-hour peer support group that provides a safe haven for youth who have been impacted by significant loss or change to find the support and resources to help navigate and manage their grief.
In this program, youth can connect with their peers, gain invaluable life skills, and find strength and hope in their ability to survive, adapt, and push through their loss. Registered clinical counsellors use a proven curriculum and experiential activities to create an open, supportive environment that promotes individual sharing of ideas and feelings regarding the universal experiences of grief and loss and bereavement.
The goals of the program is to:
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Assist youth in developing an understanding and awareness of normal responses to loss;
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Identify and enhance coping skills to help deal with grief and loss;
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Integrate the loss in a meaningful way, and move forward with new hope and purpose.
Short-Term Grief Counselling
It takes a village to raise young people, but not all villages know how to respond effectively to those who grieve. LTL is committed to increasing the capacity of our communities to support grieving youth through evidence-based, research-informed knowledge and practices.
Family members, friends, teachers and anyone who loves or work with youth can learn from LTL grief workshops. Our workshops address specific needs of bereaved youth after an untimely death, tragedy, or shared community loss.
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By attending, counsellors will equip participants tired-and-true techniques and education that will provide impactful grief support to youth.
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Community Education Workshops
"Being able to hear
the stories of fellow
grieving people and share
my own. It was comforting
to know of other youth
who have had to deal
with similar grief".
"The welcoming
atmosphere
and the general
demeanor of
the counsellors".
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"How motivational
and inspiring the
counsellors were".
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"The feeling of
being safe".
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