Grief and Bereavement Resources

Help for Coping With the Death of a Loved One

Losing a loved one who has died can be an emotionally challenging and unfamiliar experience. Many people do not know where to begin to find help in coping with loss.

The Chaplaincy Department of Memorial Hermann Health System has gathered the following resources to help support people in Houston, Texas, and the surrounding communities. We hope that you and your loved ones will find these resources to be helpful at your time of loss.

• Addressing Practical Matters & Urgent Needs
• Grieving Adults
• Grieving Special Circumstances
• Grief & Covid-19
• Help for Young Adults
• Help for Children & Adolescents
• Help for Those Grieving Pregnancy Loss or the Loss of a Newborn
• Grieving the Loss of a Child
• Chaplaincy Services of Memorial Hermann

Help for Addressing Practical Matters & Urgent Needs

• AARP: What to Do When a Loved One Dies
• Burial Assistance: If you are at a hospital or have hospice services, social workers, chaplains, or case managers may be able to assist you further in locating financial assistance for burial and cremation. Your local county burial assistance program will be able to direct you to available resources:
  • Houston, Texas: Harris County Burial Assistance Program: (713) 692-1952
  • Texas Fort Bend Pauper and Indigent Burial Services: (281) 238-3502
  • Texas Montgomery, Liberty, and Walker County Indigent Burial Assistance: (936) 539-7812
  • Other areas: Contact your local county offices for information on resources for burial assistance.
• 211 United Way Helpline: If you are struggling or are in need of resources, support is available to everyone in the Greater Houston region by dialing "2-1-1." Trained professionals answer the line 24/7, 365 days a year to assist you with accessing community resources including homeless shelters and survivor services, counseling support, food aid, medical aid, resources for veterans, addiction treatment resources, support for people with disabilities, natural disaster recovery assistance, and more. Support is available in over 90 languages. Just dial 2-1-1, or see their site to find out more: https://www.unitedwayhouston.org/211/.
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress is available to you and your loved ones at 9-8-8.

Help for Grieving Adults

• Bo's Place is a local Houston non-profit that serves adults, children, and adolescents healing from grief. They offer bereavement support, including educational materials, grief support groups and recommendations for people in the Houston area who are coping with the death of a loved one. A variety of their educational resources are provided below. For more information and additional resources, see their website: https://www.bosplace.org or call (713) 942-8339.
  

  

  • Printable Resources:
    • Continuing Bonds
    • Gratitude
    • Meaning-Making
    • Mindfulness and Grief
    • Suddenly Solo: Things to Consider After the Death of Your Significant Other
  • Tasks of Mourning:
    1. Accepting the Reality of the Loss
    2. To Process the Pain of Grief
    3. To Adjust to a World Without the Deceased
    4. To Find Enduring Connection with the Deceased in the Midst of Embarking on a New Life
• Center for Loss & Life Transition: This site was created by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, a well-known grief counselor. Below are some of the resources available through the site:
  • The Six Needs of Mourning
  • Grief and Mourning Basics
  • Helping Yourself Heal During the Holiday Season
• The Montrose Center of Houston provides support to LGBTQ communities, including general counseling services and group counseling. Additional services, including housing support, HIV services, substance abuse services and others are also available.
• Soaring Spirits has one goal; to connect widowed people with each other. They accomplish this by providing resources to the newly widowed such as regional social groups, a 24/7 online community, Widowed Pen Pals, Camp Widow, the Widow’s Voice blog and You are not Alone Outreach.
• What's Your Grief: Our mission is to promote grief education, exploration, and expression in both practical and creative ways. You don’t have to grieve alone. What’s Your Grief is a place for sharing, support, resources and more.
• Recommended Books:
  • Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart, by Alan D. Wolfelt
  • The Unwanted Gift of Grief, by Tim P. VanDuivendyk, DMin
  • Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief, by Martha Whitmore Hickman
• Podcasts & Audio:
  • What’s Your Grief?
  • Grief Out Loud (Dougy Center)
  • Grief Works
  • The Mindfulness and Grief Podcast
  • Grief for Beginners: 5 Things to Know About Processing Loss

Help for Those Grieving Special Circumstances

• Healing Your Traumatized Heart: Seeking Safety, Understanding, and Peace
• Grief After Traumatic Loss
• National Suicide Prevention Hotline: If your grief or other distress is leading to thoughts of self-harm, there is hope, 9-8-8.
• The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors
• Helping Yourself Heal When Someone You Care About Dies of a Drug Overdose
• Help for Grieving Multiple Losses: Living in the Shadow of the Ghosts of Grief: An Introduction

Grief & Covid-19

Grieving the loss of a loved one during the Covid-19 pandemic can present many unique challenges for bereaved individuals. Many people may have not been able to see their loved ones before they died due to safety precautions. The death may have been sudden or unexpected. Some families have had multiple members infected and even suffered multiple deaths. In addition to losing loved ones, one may be coping with the stress of having one's life upended by the pandemic in many ways.

Grief is not limited to the death of a loved one. Our greater Houston community, our state, country, and our world are going through a global crisis. This crisis has impacted the physical, mental, and spiritual health, as well as to the safety and economic security, of so many. A crisis such as this can provoke grief as well as trauma for many individuals.

You may be grieving the loss of a job, or struggling with loneliness at not being able to visit with family or friends. You may be having to adapt to working from home, are working under new safety precautions, or have lost a job. You may be struggling with child care or be concerned about your child’s schooling. You may be grieving how life was for you before this crisis.

The multiple stresses of life right now might be compounded and feel unmanageable. It is important to seek support for one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being during the pandemic.

We hope the resources on this page may be of support to you and your loved ones.

• Very Well Mind: Understanding Grief in the Age of the Covid-19 Pandemic
• American Psychological Association: Grief and Covid-19: Mourning our bygone lives
• Psychology Today: Covid-19 and Ambiguous Loss

Help for Young Adults

• Actively Moving Forward offers support groups for young adults.
• The Dinner Party is a resource particularly aimed at supporting people in their 20s and 30s coping with loss. They organize local dinner events in different cities, including Houston and the surrounding areas, where people can gather to support one another in their experiences with grief.
• Modern Loss is a blog where people share experiences with grief.
• AARP: Tips to Understanding a Millennial in Mourning

Help for Children & Adolescents

Many families often have questions about how to best support children and adolescents experiencing grief and loss. There are numerous resources available to support children, adolescents and their families coping with grief. The websites and resources below may offer a good starting place: