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Activities for Widow Support Groups

Losing someone through death is difficult. Support groups, with a qualified facilitator, can sometimes help the bereaved get through their pain and grief. However, joining a group should be through the grieved one's own volition and not through well-intended pressure from family or friends. The resolution of grief can only occur through taking the first step toward healing for oneself.

  1. Community Resources

    • Women who are in grief may suffer other, often financial, losses with the death of a husband. It is important not only to support women emotionally during their bereavement but to help inform them of their legal and financial rights. Making available financial and legal resources to widows helps them bear the burden from death more easily.

    Journaling

    • Support group members can keep journals about their thoughts and feelings. The
      basic rule about journaling is that no one should feel pressured to share what she has written.

    Letters to the Dead

    • Another writing activity that the support group can do is letter writing. The
      Egyptians had a custom of writing letters to the dead about the everyday problems the living experienced. A suggested activity could be that the members of the widows group write letters to their husbands about what they would discuss if their husbands were alive. The activity is useful because writing about the problems can create organization about the practical day-to-day necessities. While the letters are about ordinary subjects, the manuscripts are intended to be private unless the widows are willing to share what they have written.

    Significant Dates

    • The facilitator should meet with each widow before she joins the group and
      learn the woman's history. Part of the relevant information that the
      facilitator should know is the date that the husband died. This should not be public information to the group but it would not hurt, on the day of the husband's death, for the facilitator to give that particular widow an extra hug or attention.

    Tea

    • A tea is a comforting event for people who are grieving. A soothing warm cup and the time to sit down without daily hassles is welcome, but especially for those who have experienced loss.

    Widows' Breakfast

    • People who are in grief sometimes neglect their health by not eating properly. Starting the support group's day with a healthy breakfast once a month can help to remind the widows to take care of themselves.

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