Feb 21, 2005 By Steve Ostrosky 3 min read

While the loss of a close relative or cherished friend can affect people young and old, a new program beginning this week focuses on the grieving process for teenagers. The teenage years can often be trying, as young people try to find their own unique place in the world. The loss of a parent, relative, friend or classmate can often impact teenagers differently than adults.

Albert Gallatin Home Care & Hospice will begin hosting Grieving Adolescent Peer Support (GAPS), a monthly support group for teens between age 13 and 18 to share their stories about how they are coping with the loss of someone special.

“As much as we like to fit in, grief and death make us different, period,” said Rosemary Hardy, director of volunteer and bereavement services. “We want to give them a safe environment where they can share feelings and encourage each other.”

Wednesday is the first meeting of the group, which will gather the fourth Wednesday of each month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at 20 Highland Park Drive, Suite 203.

Hardy said the purpose of the group is to reassure teenagers that their reaction to loss is normal, and that every person will grieve differently.

“If it means telling a story 100 times, then tell it 100 times,” she said. “There’s healing involved in that.”

For most, the grieving process lasts 13 months, after all of the firsts have come and gone since a person’s death: the first holidays, first birthdays, and special events that teenagers were hoping to share with the person they lost.

Hardy said each teen who participates will be at different steps in the process, with some having lost someone six months ago or more, while others will just be weeks separated from the death.

“If you are able to love, then you will experience loss,” she said. “You didn’t miss a person if you didn’t love them.”

Toni Fields, bereavement counselor, said the group will offer teenagers a supportive place where they can receive affirmation. The group members will share only if they feel comfortable, but they will also be encouraged to keep a journal to help work through their emotions.

“There is no right or wrong way to grieve, as long as you’re not hurting yourself or someone else,” she said.

Fields also plans to use topics to start the group sessions, but the participants, and not the facilitators, will determine the flow of the meetings. Parents and guardians will not be permitted to participate in the sessions, she said.

“There’s not a lot out there for teens in general, and this is a slow process,” she said. “We want to share the grief burden by giving them time, patience, our hearts and our shoulders to let them walk through it.”

Teenagers can attend meetings or skip sessions depending on how they are feeling that day, and both Hardy and Fields are hopeful that the group will help as many teenagers as possible going through the grief process.

“This is a friendly, safe, controlled environment where teens can listen to teens and really support each other,” Fields said.

For more information or to RSVP for GAPS, contact Hardy or Fields at 724-438-6660, Extension 1386.