Bereavement Counselling and Support    

The death of a child is a tragic and devastating event.
The journey through the grief process takes time, empathy, understanding and support.
A strong support structure is an essential component in allowing families to “own”
and normalize their grief, understanding that they are experiencing a
“normal” reaction to an abnormal event in their lives.   

SIDS and Kids Hunter Region provide a unique combination of peer support and professional counselling. Research has indicated the benefits of peer bereavement support, and similar services providing bereavement support, indicates the positive benefits of such support.   

It is important, in the provision of service, to be attuned to the needs of the bereaved and develop the service accordingly. Through our family services program, we aim to achieve this, through a variety of activities. These activities include the following:   

Counselling and Peer Support Services   

SIDS and Kids Hunter Region offers a unique combination of professional bereavement counselling and peer support. Some parents who have experienced the death of a young child have been trained in bereavement support and are available for family members to talk to. In addition to this SIDS and Kids employ a Bereavement Counsellor who has specific experience in supporting and counselling bereaved persons.   

Bereavement Counselling is the process of exploring your grief with a trained professional in a supportive and understanding environment.   

Seeking counseling is not a reflection on you in some negative way, it is a reflection of what has happened to you.   

Grief is a normal reaction to loss, and the depth and duration of the experience is different for everyone.   

The experiences and reactions you are having are normal. Symptoms of grief are often the very things that we would otherwise consider abnormal.   

Understanding your own experience can be helpful in adapting to your new life situation. Bereavement Counselling can be helpful in assisting you to work with your grief.   

Counselling can be useful for individuals, couples and families in providing another source of support and understanding.   

Call the centre to make an appointment with the Bereavement Counsellor. Appointments are made between the hours of 9am-5pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Home visits can be arranged in special circumstances. Alternatively, you can drop in to the centre between 9am—5pm,Monday - Friday, to speak with a peer support worker. Contact our Bereavement Counsellor on (02) 4969 3171 or email supporthunter@sidsandkids.org   

2012 Bereavement Groups – February