Grief Group Forming

Those we loved and lost live on in us, as we will live on in those we love. For love is as strong as death,[1] and the good we do never dies.[2]

[1] Shir ha-Shirim 8:6.

[2] Mishlei 10:2, 11:4.

Grief is as natural as any other thing our bodies do; it is neither a disease nor dysfunction but a journey through which we make meaning. For some, the process of meaning-making can be most comforting in the company of others. Jewish Family Services at the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines is pleased to offer a monthly in-person grief support group the second Thursday of each month 11 a.m–12 p.m. in the Bucksbaum Library at Temple B’nai Jeshurun, beginning April 10.

The group will be facilitated by Director of Jewish Family Services Karen Michaeli. Karen completed bereavement volunteer training with grief counselor Chris Klug at Iowa City Hospice and served as Director of Bereavement Services at Hospice of Washington County. She studied with social psychologist and loss scholar John Harvey at the University of Iowa, and gave a lecture each year on generational trauma to Dr. Harvey’s “Loss and Trauma” class. Karen also served on the editorial board of the academic journal “Loss and Trauma”.