Hospice of Kitsap County offers a comprehensive program of grief support services for our community. We assist anyone in Kitsap County who is grieving the loss of a loved one, regardless of their affiliation with a hospice patient. We also support the family and friends of terminally ill hospice patients in coming to terms with their grief and working through this process in their own individual ways.
For more information about grief and loss support, please contact the Director of Counseling & Bereavement Services at
(360) 698-4611
Hospice of Kitsap County On-Going Support Group
This group follows a traditional drop-in format. Participants receive support in a confidential peer-group setting. Meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at 1:30pm, 3100 Bucklin Hill Road, #212.
Touch Stones: a 9-Week Grief Support Group - call 698-4611 to pre-register
Hospice of Kitsap County presents Facing Loss: a 9-Week Grief Support Group. This group is designed to provide education and support for adults grieving the death of a loved one.
Participants meet with others who have experienced a similar loss and benefit from exploring ways of coping with life's changes. The group focuses on the general task of grieving, considers ways of providing self-care, and creates an environment for mutual learning as group members share their experiences of loss.
Together, participants learn that change, though difficult, is possible and that grieving occurs in different ways for each individual. The sessions are informal, supportive and informative.
Each session builds on materials from the previous sessions, so attendance to all nine is encouraged. This program is free, but donations to Hospice of Kitsap County are gratefully accepted. Please call (360) 698-4611 to register.
Touch Stones Schedule
Tuesdays - 5:30pm to 7:00pm
April 10, 2012 through June 5, 2012
Silverdale - 3100 Bucklin Hill Road, #212
Fridays - 10:30am to 12:00pm
July 13, 2012 through September 7, 2012
Silverdale - 3100 Bucklin Hill Road, #212
Thursdays - 5:30pm to 7:00pm
September 13, 2012 through November 8, 2012
Silverdale - 3100 Bucklin Hill Road, #212
Caregiver Coffee Group
This group is led by an MSW and an RN and is designed to help caregivers with issues particular to caring for a loved one with a serious illness. Topics covered include anticipatory grief, caregiving tips, and self-care while caring for someone else. No sign-up necessary.
Meeting Details:
Thursdays, 10 – 11:30 am
Silverdale - 3100 Bucklin Hill Rd, #212
6-Week Kids Grief Group
Please call (360) 698-4611 for more information.
In-School Bereavement Program
This is a collaborative effort between Hospice and all five Kitsap County school districts to provide grief and loss counseling to students who are suffering from the loss of a loved one. Today there are a growing number of kids dealing with grief issues, especially as a result of violent deaths and suicides (particularly suicides by their peers).
When kids face the death of someone close to them, often they are relatively unsupported as they cope with the crisis. For most, their surviving parent or guardian is grieving the same loss, therefore leaving little or no effective adult support within their lives. Furthermore, it is difficult for an adult to truly judge how difficult the death of a loved one is for children. Adults generally suffer "a loss", but with children the loss leads to a whole domino effect. Families change, there are moves and remarriages, there are new roles within the family system for the child, and yet children are expected to maintain normalcy at school, achieve good grades and "get over it". School counselors, their most accessible source of guidance, have neither the time nor the specialized training for bereavement work.
It is vital that these students be empowered with the necessary skills to deal with their grief issues. Too often students are left to cope with loss individually. The inability to resolve their bereavement issues will lead some kids to excessive withdrawal, running away, alcohol, drugs, violence, suicide, or other destructive forces. All will suffer to some degree from a sense of isolation, “differentness,” and confusion.
Therefore, the goals of the In-School Grief Group is to reduce the student's sense of isolation, to provide healthful alternatives for expressions of grief, to help them increase communication about their grief within their own circle of support, and to provide assurance that they can eventually reach a place of resolution and adjustment to loss.
In the words of one girl – whose mother was murdered weeks before she started the group – the program helped her begin to “release my feelings and accept the way things are.”
These classes meet at schools around Kitsap County and are available by request. Call Hospice at (360) 698-4611 for further information or to make a request for your school.
Grief in the Workplace
Specialized programs led by Hospice counselors customized to meet the needs of groups and businesses whose members are experiencing grief and loss are available upon request by calling the Hospice of Kitsap County office at (360) 698-4611.
Waking Up Alone: Grief & Healing
Julie K. Cicero, M.S.W., former Hospice of Kitsap County grief counselor, has written a book entitled: Waking Up Alone: Grief & Healing.
Following the death of her husband, Julie obtained a Master's in Social Work and began her career as a hospice grief counselor. Her current work includes daily interaction with people who are in the process of losing their loved ones and with those who are surviving the death of a loved one.
Julie's book can be purchased for $15 by calling Hospice of Kitsap County at (360) 698-4611. All book sale proceeds benefit Hospice of Kitsap County.
Hospice of Kitsap County Grief Programs are funded in part through generous donations
made to the Untied Way of Kitsap County
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