To Our Valued Supporters and Community Members, Grief is inevitable for EVERYONE. We will all experience the loss of someone we love or care deeply about and sadly, there is no avoiding this fact. However, the grief that follows the death seems to catch us unaware, even when the death is expected. It stirs up so many complex emotions, and the reality of how the death affects us trumps everything we’ve heard about the grieving process. There is no way to ‘prepare’ for grief. The death of a child can be one of the MOST devastating events that we encounter in life. How does anyone prepare for this type of loss, and then continue to walk through life each day thereafter? Liza Kelly from Talkspace summarises this eloquently; “Our society doesn’t handle grief well. Grievers are often pressured by others to return to normal when normal no longer exists. Therapy can give individuals a space to experience their emotions without judgement.” Parents like Beth and her husband share their experience, validating the importance of counselling and support activities following the death of their beloved daughter. “We instantly felt the warmth and understanding from our Grief Counsellor. She was validating our feelings, a good listener, and the biggest thing for us was how she spoke about our daughter we lost. Using her name, asking about her. She made us feel so loved and cared for.” Grief counselling is designed to help people cope with the death and the subsequent grief of losing a loved one. It helps develop methods and strategies for coping with the death and moving forward without their physical presence. Grief counselling provides bereaved people with a safe, non-judgemental space to discuss their feelings and emotions, helping them discover ways to ease the depths and darkness of death. Beth shares, “Our Grief Counsellor was able to give us tools and suggestions as we began to work out this new life. She really guided us through those early days and weeks after our loss when we were is such a daze. She helped us realise what we were feeling was ‘normal’ and how we could grieve separately, and together as a couple. We learnt several practical ways that we could support each other in our grief following the death of our daughter.” A recent research paper* reported that receiving sufficient support after the death of a loved one had a significant positive impact on self-reported wellbeing (i.e. physical health, mental health, and financial situation), compared with those who did not receive enough support. “It was the kind of understanding we just couldn’t get from anyone close to us and it was so vital, particularly in those early days” Beth recalls. Validating the need for formal support and what continues to be most helpful for her, Beth shares, “Everyone needs different things when grieving and the variety of support options provided by the Red Tree Foundation was greatly appreciated." “Red Tree Foundation’s grief services have given us the opportunity to connect with other bereaved parents and I cannot emphasise enough just how important my husband and I have found this, particularly myself. It’s so easy to feel isolated and alone after losing a child and these events have given me a chance to meet others who just get it. They gave me the chance to build connections with other mothers, to share my feelings without the fear of what others might think. It has given me a safe place to build up my confidence again and to learn from others who are going through similar experiences.” | 
