Patients & Families Bereavement Program: Program Offerings

The When Grief is New seminar is a three-part series that offers a gentle introduction to grief group work. Typically offered quarterly, this series incorporates an educational component as well as an opportunity to connect with fellow bereaved parents. Session topics include understanding grief, preparing for firsts, and navigating changing relationships, with a focus on developing strategies to help you cope and plan, and acknowledging and sharing of challenges in the context of grieving child loss. Participants will ideally attend all three sessions.

HOPE (Healing Opportunities and Parent Exchanges) is an eight-week support group comprised of bereaved parents. This group is intended to be a deeper exploration of the grief of losing a child alongside the connection with other bereaved parents. Some of the topics explored include navigating special days and holidays, changing roles and identities, and strategies for coping with grief. HOPE group facilitates connection amongst bereaved parents, encouraging opportunities for sharing of experiences, stories, and memories of your children. To get the greatest benefit from the group and to enhance group coherence and trust, we encourage participants to join in all (or most) of the eight sessions.

Continuing HOPE is a new offering in 2025 for parents and caregivers, designed for families who are not as recently bereaved. This closed, six-week group is open to any parent/caregiver who has previously participated in our HOPE group (2023 and earlier) and will build further upon the content and themes discussed in the original HOPE group, including ways your grief has changed over time, shifting family dynamics, and exploring evolving roles and personal identities.

This is a six-session group piloted in January 2023 in partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and designed for more recently bereaved (up to two years) parents of children with an oncology diagnosis. This group is open to both individuals and couples and is limited to 10 participants. Participants should ideally attend all six sessions.

Parenting While Grieving is a new offering in 2025, offered in collaboration with the Children’s Room in Arlington, a community-based bereavement organization. This is a six-week psychoeducational group offered to adults who are parenting a child or teen (ages 3.5 to 18 years) who has experienced the death of a sibling. The group explores the impact of death and loss on siblings, a developmental understanding of the grief process, and strategies for managing the challenges of parenting over time. The group also offers support around parenting while navigating your child’s grief as well as your own, connecting you with fellow bereaved families who are similarly raising grieving children.

Expressive Arts for Grieving Hearts (EAGH) is a creative arts series that offers different types of workshops to both honor your child and navigate your grief. Each workshop is facilitated by a yoga practitioner, an artist-in-residence, or music therapist who is trained to guide bereaved families through creative exercises. No prior experience is necessary for participating in the workshops, and all are welcome.

• Mindfulness and grief yoga: Participants are guided through yoga and mindfulness exercises to use movement and breathwork as a strategy to tend to your grief. You will learn the basic principles of mindfulness, meditation, and gentle yoga movement as another tool for navigating grief.
• Journaling and photographs: Participants are guided through the practice of keeping a journal through prompts, exercises, photos, and readings that connect back to your children. This workshop aims to honor and affirm your continued bond with your child while using writing as an expressive outlet. Facilitators will always offer alternative options if you struggle with a particular prompt.
• Music therapy: Participants are guided in music listening and lyric discussion to explore grief and coping with loss. Participants are encouraged to bring meaningful songs that resonate in their grief experience and honor their child. By the end of the sessions, participants will have a playlist of songs the group has shared that support their collective grief and uniquely celebrate their children.

These workshops are educational an offer an opportunity to connect with bereaved parents who are supporting grieving siblings. Each workshop has a different theme, such as supporting siblings with rituals and routine, navigating transitions, and including siblings in planning for special days.

The Keeping Connections Conference is a day-long hospital event held annually in the fall for families who have experienced child loss. The event includes a panel presentation by bereaved parents and small group discussions facilitated by hospital staff. The day also incorporates groups and activities for siblings ages 5 and older. The day closes with a remembrance activity and closing ceremony.

"A Time to Remember," Boston Children’s memorial service, is an in-person evening of remembrance held annually in the spring to honor the children treated at Boston Children’s who have died. Incorporating a variety of music and readings, the memorial service joins families and Boston Children’s Hospital staff together to celebrate the lives and memories of your children.

• Watch: "A Time to Remember"