Bereavement & Grief Support
Losing someone you love can affect nearly every part of life. Grief may change how you feel, think, sleep, relate to others, and move through your daily routine. Some days may feel manageable, while others can bring sadness, anger, guilt, confusion, relief, or exhaustion without much warning.
There is no single right way to grieve and no fixed timeline for feeling better. Living Waters Hospice provides ongoing bereavement support to help families understand what they are experiencing, express their grief, and feel less alone after a loss. For families who are still caring for a loved one receiving hospice, our guide to understanding the end-of-life process explains some of the physical, emotional, and mental changes that may occur.
Grief Looks Different for Everyone
Grief is a natural response to loss, but it is rarely simple or predictable. Some people feel intense emotion immediately. Others feel numb or disconnected. You may want to talk often about your loved one, or you may need quiet and space to process your emotions before you are ready to share with others.
You may also feel a sense of relief after a long period of caregiving, uncertainty, exhaustion, or watching someone you love struggle. That relief can be followed by guilt, but it does not mean you cared any less. It often reflects how much strain and stress you have been carrying.
Grief can also affect more than your emotions. Trouble concentrating, changes in sleep or appetite, fatigue, restlessness, forgetfulness, and difficulty making decisions are all common experiences after a heavy loss. Family members may grieve differently from one another, which can sometimes create tension or misunderstanding during an already difficult time.
Support That Continues After Hospice Care
Living Waters Hospice continues supporting families for 13 months after the death of a loved one. During that time, our bereavement coordinators provide regular phone calls and supportive mailings with information, encouragement, and resources for different points in the grieving process. Along with grief support, families may also be facing practical responsibilities after a death. Our Who to Contact After a Loved One Passes guide provides official phone numbers, websites, and a step-by-step checklist for benefits, insurance, accounts, utilities, and other important next steps.
Support does not follow a one-size-fits-all schedule. Some family members may want to talk regularly, while others may prefer written resources or occasional check-ins. Our goal is to remain available and provide support in a way that respects each person’s needs and comfort level.
Individual Grief Support
Grief can feel isolating, especially when the people around you do not fully understand what you are experiencing. Individual support provides a private place to talk openly about your loss, ask questions, and work through difficult emotions without judgment or pressure.
This support may be helpful during the early days after a death, around holidays and anniversaries, or whenever grief begins to feel especially heavy.
Spiritual Support
Loss can bring questions about meaning, faith, hope, anger, and what comes next. Living Waters Hospice offers in-person spiritual support through our chaplain for family members who would find it helpful.
Spiritual support is guided by the beliefs, values, and preferences of each family and is available to people of all faith backgrounds, as well as those who do not follow a particular faith but would still value a supportive conversation.
Grief Support Groups
Grief support groups offer a place to connect with others who understand the experience of losing someone you love. Living Waters Hospice families are invited to join our local grief support group for conversation, encouragement, and shared understanding in a welcoming setting.
Caring for Yourself After a Loss
Working through grief takes time and energy. There may be days when basic tasks feel more difficult than usual. Small acts of self-care can help create a little stability while you adjust.
Helpful steps may look like:
When Additional Help May Be Needed
Grief can be intense without being abnormal. Still, additional professional support may be appropriate when grief begins to interfere with personal safety, physical health, relationships, work, or the ability to care for yourself or others.
Living Waters Hospice can help family members understand their support options and connect with appropriate resources when needs extend beyond the bereavement program.
Grief and Loss Resources
While Living Waters Hospice provides bereavement support to the families of our patients, the following organizations also offer educational materials, peer support, online communities, and specialized help for different kinds of loss.
Hospice Foundation of America
The Hospice Foundation of America provides reliable information about grief, loss, hospice care, and finding bereavement support. Its grief resources cover common reactions, family experiences, and ways to find local support.
Visit Hospice Foundation of America
GriefShare
GriefShare offers structured grief-support groups through participating churches and community locations. Its program is Christian-based, although groups may welcome people with different backgrounds and beliefs. Visitors can search for current groups by location.
Find a GriefShare Group near you
The Compassionate Friends
The Compassionate Friends provides peer support to parents, siblings, and grandparents after the death of a child of any age and from any cause. It offers local chapters, online support, and educational resources.
Explore The Compassionate Friends
Dougy Center
The Dougy Center provides grief resources and peer-support information for children, teens, young adults, and families. Its website includes age-specific articles and activities, along with a directory for locating grief-support programs.
Find Resources for Children and Teens
TAPS
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors supports people grieving the death of a military or veteran loved one. It provides peer support, grief counseling connections, educational resources, and specialized assistance for military families.
Visit TAPS
We Are Here After the Loss
Hospice support does not end when a loved one dies. Living Waters Hospice remains available to the family with ongoing contact, grief education, counseling, and spiritual support throughout the first 13 months after a loss.
Choose your nearest location below to speak with a member of our hospice team about bereavement and support after the loss of a loved one.
Phone: 909-315-8113
Email: csr@lwhospiceca.com
Address: 22300 Van Buren Blvd. Suite 102
Riverside, CA 92518
Phone: 928-565-9000
Email: csr@lwhospiceaz.com
Address: 3711 US Highway 68
Golden Valley, AZ 86413