Spring 2023 Blog - What is happening now, and coming up in our compassionate community.

 

Healing to the Max, Inc. has been busy this new season, and we are looking forward to continuing to connect with our fellow survivors of a loss by suicide. We were honoured by a local company, Dance City Promotions, with a kind and generous donation to our programs of hope and healing earlier in April! Cofounders and directors, Dallas Schneider and Andrea McDonald chose our organization to collect and present donations to at their annual spring dance competition. Their efforts help to ensure we are able to continue to provide our branches of support, as well, continue to develop our suicide prevention project, “Gone Away Ones”, to be presented at the high school level.

In our program, we refer to this as a “sparkling moment”! The term, Nonprofit Organization can be misleading; the more funding we are able to procure, the stronger our ability to grow in new directions becomes! We wanted to thank Dallas, Andrea and the entire team at Dance City Promotions for their continued support of our programs! We couldn’t be more grateful for support from our community, and beyond! We continue to meet in our Healing Together sessions the first Thursday of each new month. This branch of support is open to all types of survivors of a loss by suicide, ages 18+. There is no cost to participate, and is lead by a group of trained facilitators.

Our Men’s Only group is meeting on Tuesday, April 25th at 7pm - CST. There is also, no cost to participate. This group is designed by men, facilitated by men, and is a good fit for all types of survivors ages 18+.

We always have facilitators standing by to make one-on-one connections, so please do get in touch if you’d like some support, but are unsure of which option best suits yourself, and your surviving loved ones.

We also run youth and teen support groups, on demand. If there is a group of survivors, who are ages 11-18 years, we schedule special groups, designed to support all types of young survivors through their unique experience of grief.

All our programs are facilitated through the lens of narrative therapy, which allows for all cultural nuances to be included in the healing from traumatic loss process.

In March, I participated in the launch of The Canadian Mental Health Moments
project launch. I was filmed, and spoke on my journey of the traumatic loss of my 16 year old son, Max, and ways I began to heal, and learn to live with my grief and joy, hand in hand. You can find the link on YouTube to watch this powerful project of hope.

I also recorded a video for The Conscious Grief Series, hosted by Tara Nash. Tara is based in London, England, and helps support the bereaved through finding ways to consciously grieve. She hosts many wonderful online healing opportunities, such as grief yoga sessions, via Zoom. I have a link to my interview with Tara, if you missed this earlier on this month, and would like to view it. You can find Tara Nash on Facebook, and Instagram to learn more about the branches of support she offers.

I will also be recording another powerful interview with Caro Brookings, Suicide Bereavement Coaching. She is hosting another online healing series, which there is no cost to register for. I will be speaking about discovering purpose after losing a loved one by suicide. I encourage you to find Caro on Facebook or Instagram to participate in the excellent healing opportunities she offers to her fellow survivors! 

Something that is important to ourselves as a team, is the continuation of education in the field of traumatic loss. We have also been participating in courses offered by David Kessler, so that we can adopt the most comprehensive methods to our programs of hope and healing.

We will begin our Spring 12 Intensive Program for Parents, Guardian’s and
Grandparents, this coming Sunday, April 16th, at 10:30 am CST. This is a closed group, which means you go through all 12 weeks with the same group of people each week. This program is full, and registration is now closed for this session. We will break for summer, and announce the dates for the Fall Intensive, shortly.

Our monthly support options run year round, with extra sessions being offered during the holiday season.

Another holiday is approaching with the changing of seasons, and we have planned to set aside SATURDAY, MAY 6TH to meet online for a “Bereaved Mother’s Day” online brunch and discussion. Sunday, May 7th is officially recognized as International Bereaved Mother’s Day. We are running our 12 week intensive on Sundays to accommodate our participants from Europe (and whom contend with a large time zone difference). There is no cost to join us online for our Bereaved Mother’s Day event.

We have confirmed details for our Summer Healing Retreat, and couldn’t be looking forward to this special weekend of connection, more! We will begin on
Friday, July 21st at 6:30 pm, and go through to Sunday, July 23rd finishing up at 5:00 pm. We will be hosting the retreat at Ancient Spirals Retreat, just outside of Saskatoon, SK Canada. There is no cost to participate in this healing opportunity, and you can find out more information on our Facebook Group Page, Healing to The Max, Inc. - Suicide Grief Support, where we’ve created an event page, and will post all the updates. We will be emailing the registration form, shortly. If you would like to participate in our in-person healing retreat, please send an email for the registration form to info@healingtothemax.org.

We will be focusing on sharing strategies for facing a new season, in our Healing
Together communities this month. When the seasons change, but we are still
missing our loved one, it can bring forth many complex emotions. Let’s get together and lend one another support as we find ways to cope, together.

As always, I am saddened that you are here, because it means, that like myself, you’ve also suffered the traumatic loss of a loved one by suicide. I am, however grateful you’ve found your way to meaningful support! We are honoured to walk beside in your time of great need.


With Much Love,
Jill Cowan

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