Grief Support Services

Families new to Judi’s House first receive an assessment that helps our team understand how grief is uniquely impacting them. After meeting together for a brief introduction, each member of the family is paired with an individual Judi’s House clinician.

We connect families with services at Judi’s House and in the community to best meet their needs.

We provide group counseling to grieving children and their families at Judi’s House and in the community. Individuals are grouped with peers of the same age and similar death experiences. Groups are facilitated by licensed counselors and trainees and incorporate connection, education, coping, and caregiving skills.

Groups occur four times a year. Once a group has begun, new members cannot be added. Most families who are recommended for groups are assigned to the next available start date.

Pathfinders, a 10-session program, uses art, play, and activities to uniquely reach each person. Youth meet with peer groups while adults discuss the challenges of raising grieving children and receive support for their own grief.

Connections is a 5-session group offering on-going support to families after completing Pathfinders. Families grow their relationships while adapting to changes in their grief.

Group counseling may not meet the needs of every child or family. When appropriate we offer short-term grief counseling. Using creative expression, communication, and other therapeutic interventions, our counselors help children and families find hope and stability in uncertain times.

Our team of experienced grief counselors provide educational workshops for parents, guardians, and adult family members who want to create understanding and connection with grieving youth. Free, virtual workshops are offered monthly and are limited in size to ensure participants can ask questions. 

Reserve your spot today.

Judi’s House is not an immediate or crisis care provider.

To keep our services available at no cost to families, our area of specialization is limited, and our clinicians are not trained to provide crisis services. Our data demonstrates that our services are not effective in the months immediately following a death loss. When families are struggling with the immediate stress and strain brought on by the loss, they are not always cognitively able to take in and benefit from the programming we offer.

Once two months have passed since the death, we can provide an initial assessment to determine what resources best meet a family’s needs.

If a family is in need of immediate or crisis care, we will do our best to provide appropriate referrals.

Following a death loss, members of the community including family, friends, and advocates, often want to do everything they can to support the bereaved. This includes seeking therapeutic support for the grieving family members.

Over the past two decades of assisting families at Judi’s House, we have learned that seeking therapeutic support is an individual decision that caregivers make considering many factors such as time, resources, and emotional commitment. For this reason, we require that the initial request for services come directly from the bereaved family. If a community member or social support provider would like to assist the bereaved caregiver in making this call, we ask that you call our Grief Care Coordinators together.

Families can call Judi’s House at any time after the death. Our Grief Care Coordinators will provide an overview of our services and verify eligibility. If the caregiver is ready to share basic information about the family and the deceased, the Grief Care Coordinator will gather that information and send out the application materials.

There are four parts of the application:

1. Family application
2. Individual applications for each child you are seeking services for
3. Consent form that must be signed by all medical decision makers for any child that will receive services
4. Communication consent form

All members of the family who are seeking services must attend the assessment. At the start of the assessment, a member of our clinical staff conducts a full family meeting with all participants. Following the family meeting, each family member will meet individually with our clinical staff.

Initial assessments are scheduled during daytime business hours Mondays – Thursdays.

Initial assessments typically last for 1 1/2 hours.

Judi’s House may recommend the following services:

• Services at Judi’s House, including:
  • Group counseling
  • Non-group counseling
  • Educational workshops
• Services with outside providers
• No services
• Any combination of the above