(lively music) - Caring Connections provides evidence-based bereavement care to grieving persons in the Intermountain West through clinician-facilitated support groups, and a variety of services.
Here with more about this year's Grief and the Holidays event is Adrienne Bott.
Adrienne, thanks so much for being here.
We appreciate it.
- Yeah, thanks for having me.
- Now, Grief and the Holidays is something you've been doing for a while.
- Yes, yes.
So our program recognizes that the holidays can be a really challenging time for many people.
This is especially true for those who are grieving a more recent loss but it can also be difficult for many who are even, you know, years out from a death.
So we provide this program every November just kind of in the lead-up to what can be a difficult season for many, just as an evening of comfort and support for those who are able to join.
- That's great.
What does the event look like?
Is it like group therapy or do you have a speaker?
- Yeah, so we'll have a featured speaker this year.
Her name is Taryn Hiatt.
She is the director of the Utah Chapter for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
And so she will be sharing a little bit about the loss of her father many years ago and she'll also be sharing a bit on her approach to helping others as a way of honoring the memory of her father.
We'll also have a musical guest for the evening.
It's actually Peter Breinholt, which is exciting.
He's a bit of a Utah favorite and so he will also be performing a couple of songs throughout the evening.
And it's sure to bring a lift to those who are able to attend.
- What a nice thing to do.
I love that the nursing services is thinking about these mental health issues as well.
And why is this something that you care about?
- I just think, you know, as I mentioned before, it's a time when many people can kind of feel maybe a little bit isolated or not sure of what to do when they're having these heavy feelings during a season that's otherwise, you know, kind of happy and full of family and friends.
So I think this evening is really special.
It gives a lot of suggestions for coping with grief during the holiday season.
- Oh, that's wonderful.
Thank you so much for the work that you're doing.
- Thank you.
- If you'd like to learn more about the Grief and the Holidays event and attend it yourself, it takes place November 14th from 7 to 9 PM at the University of Utah College of Nursing.
You can learn more by visiting nursing.utah.edu/caring-connect.
I'm Laura Durham, thanks for watching "Contact."
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