Resources

Understanding the Grief Process: Click here to download.
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The Support Line:  519.601.8055   OR   1.844.360.8055 available 24/7
https://cmhatv.ca/programs-services/
The Support Line offers help when you are experiencing distress – which is a personal experience unique to you.  Other reasons to call may include:

  • A change in your mental health
  • A recent diagnosis of a mental illness or addiction
  • Feeling lonely or isolated
  • Experiencing emotional or physical pain
  • Grieving the loss of a loved one
  • Feeling fearful
  • Recovering from an addiction
  • Experiencing a high level of stress following a recent event
  • Concerned about the well-being of a loved one
  • If you are having a bad day, and need a friendly, supportive ear

Support Line services include:

  • Emotional support and encouragement
  • Support for families, loved ones and caregivers
  • Community resource/referral information
  • Transfer to crisis services if needed

Reach Out:  519.433.2023  OR  1.866.933.2023 crisis assistance available 24/7
www.reachout247.ca

Reach Out staff help you if you, a friend, co-worker or family member are in crisis, or need an appointment with a mental health or addictions professional, or want information about community services.
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What is 2-1-1?

2-1-1 is a free helpline for information on community and social across Ontario.
Dial the three-digit phone number to reach us 24/7.

The 2-1-1 helpline is the easiest way to find community, health and social services in Ontario. These services are here to help you and your family.

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Please feel free to listen to some of the recommended podcasts:

Good Mourning with Sally Douglas
The Mindfulness and Grief Podcast by Heather Strang

All There Is with Anderson Cooper – Podcast on CNN Audio

Kate Bowler: Everything Happens

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Journey Through Loss – Book List
Please feel free to review our recommended books.
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Roshi Joan Halifax’s GRACE model of compassionate care has been adapted into a format that the bereaved could use in times when they might be feeling overwhelmed.
 
To download a copy of G.R.A.C.E. for Grief, please click here.
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For tips, coping strategies and resources to manage your mental health during the pandemic: click here 
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An article by Dr. Robert Neimeyer on: Coping with Grief and Loss, Support for Grieving
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Memphis, where he also maintains an active clinical practice.
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We look to resources that may be helpful to you. The art of meditation is plentiful, like a simple Metta practice. The qualities are Kindness (Goodwill), Compassion,Sympathetic Joy (or Appreciative Joy), and Equanimity (serenity).  As embodied practices they also unfold most of what are known as the Factors of Awakening.

Breathing Peace and Goodwill

Breathing in, I fill the body with bright awareness;
Breathing out, I release and invite the body to calm. 
Breathing into the heart, I receive kindness and goodwill towards myself;
Breathing out from the heart, I offer kindness and goodwill to others.
Breathing into the heart, I receive compassion for myself and my own suffering;
Breathing out from the heart, I hold the suffering of others in a compassionate space.
Breathing into the heart, I feel joy and gladness for my good qualities and actions;
Breathing out from the heart, I feel joy and gladness at the good qualities and actions of others.
Breathing into the heart, I invite the body to relax completely in peace and equanimity;
Breathing out from the heart, I radiate peace and equanimity into the world.

[General Suggestions: any one of these phrases can be a complete meditation on its own.  You could try repeating the first two lines until you feel quite calm and relaxed, before proceeding to the next.  With practice, you can spend 3-5 minutes on each of the stanzas—or much longer—to make for a very complete and wholesome period of meditation.  Over time, the phrasing can be abbreviated to a single word, like inhaling peace, for example.  With even more experience, language can be dropped altogether and you just inhale and exhale the embodied sense of kindness, compassion, joy and peace.]
Brad Hunter
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