Grief Support and Bereavement Counseling

Hope after loss

hospice grieving child

Hope after loss

Every person grieves in their own unique way. Because grief and mourning are personal, we listen and adapt our bereavement program to fit your experience and traditions.


Each of our offices has a bereavement coordinator dedicated to supporting family, friends and loved ones. Compassus also provides support services in the communities we serve.


Support can begin before death and extend for up to a year. Even after that time, we're available to help you cope with loss. There is no charge for bereavement services and the choice is yours.

Grief support

The loss of a significant person in your life is difficult. Compassus is here to support you. While grief support is a requirement for Medicare hospice providers, all programs are not the same.


Talk with the bereavement coordinator at your local hospice office. The best coordinators are great listeners and caring professionals.

Attending to practical matters after a loss

flowers

Attending to practical matters after a loss

Remember, hospice care does not end with the death of a loved one. In select locations, Compassus is partnering with Empathy, an app developer, to help you navigate legal and practical matters after the death of a family member.


On the Empathy app, you can chat with care specialists who understand what you’re going through, find the answers you need, or help you find local professionals. They can even take some tasks off of your hands and do them for you.


Whether you need to plan the funeral, close accounts or subscriptions, deal with legal and financial tasks like the will, probate and estate - our care team is here to help. A Compassus bereavement counselor will share available support services.

Support from a bereavement coordinator or chaplain may include:


  • Individual and family counseling
  • Phone contact and/or mail support
  • Remembrance gatherings
  • Specialized support for children and teens
  • Critical incident stress management and debriefing
  • Community grief education presentations
  • Virtual grief support groups via Zoom
  • Pre-loss counseling, because grief can start before death


Bereavement services include calls, visits, printed materials, support groups and individual counseling sessions. You control how and when to receive care.

Anticipatory Grief

Anticipatory grief is the sorrow felt before death or another great loss. The experience is different for everyone. Not everyone feels anticipatory grief, yet for others it can be more distressing that grief felt after death.


Anticipatory grief is sometimes called silent grief. Tradition impresses on us that sorrow only begins after loss. There is no timeline for when grief begins or ends. There is also no right way or wrong way to feel or act. Whatever your journey looks like, our hospice team is here for you.

Support groups

Compassus offers local grief support groups that are confidential covering topics including grief, mourning, goal setting, coping skills, reconciliation, resolution and many more. Grief support groups are a safe place to share your story with others on a similar journey. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these local Compassus grief support groups will be conducted via Zoom.


Grief.com has an online locator for grief support groups nationwide.

Community Bereavement programs

Many of our programs have experts available to speak at your workplace, school, church, club or other community organization about grief and coping with the loss of a loved one. Remembrance gatherings are an opportunity to honor loved ones who have died.

More support online