Support and therapy groups

Bereavement support group

After losing someone close, the world expects you to “pull yourself together”. Here you don’t have to. The group gives you space for sadness, remembrance and – at your own pace – a return to life.

Signing up is free and without obligation – we'll get in touch when the group starts to form.

Grief needs space and witnesses

Grief is a natural process, not an illness – but the modern world makes less and less room for it. After a few weeks, the people around you go back to their own affairs, and the grieving person is left alone with waves of sadness, longing, and sometimes anger and guilt that come without warning. Many people start hiding what they are going through so as “not to burden” others.

A bereavement support group offers what is missing most: the presence of people who understand loss from their own experience, permission for every emotion – including difficult and contradictory ones – and living proof that it is possible to carry a loss and, at the same time, gradually return to life. There is no timetable for grief here, and no expectation that “time heals all wounds” by a set date.

The sessions are led by a psychologist experienced in working with bereaved people. The group covers different kinds of loss – the death of a partner, a parent, a child, a friend. If the loss is very recent or the circumstances were especially traumatic, the initial conversation will help decide whether individual support is advisable first.

Who is this group for?

  • ✓people who have lost someone close – a partner, parent, child or friend
  • ✓people who feel that those around them no longer understand their grief
  • ✓people struggling with guilt, anger or emptiness after a loss
  • ✓people whose grief persists and makes everyday life difficult
  • ✓people who want to go through their loss among understanding people, not alone

What will you gain?

  • ✓space for all the emotions of grief – without judgement or hurry
  • ✓the presence of people who understand loss from their own experience
  • ✓knowledge about the natural course of grief and its waves
  • ✓a gentle, gradual return to activities and relationships
  • ✓the chance to talk about the person who died – even when others no longer “want to listen”

What does it look like in practice?

Formatin person (Gdańsk or Gdynia) or online
Group size6-10 people
Sessionsweekly, 90 minutes
Startonce the group is complete – people on the waiting list are invited first
Admissionfree, no-obligation initial conversation

Join the waiting list

Bereavement support group – the group will start once enough people have signed up. Leave your contact details and when enrolment opens, we'll get in touch with you first.

The controller of the data you provide to join the waiting list will be Magdalena Raba, running a business under the business name RABA Magdalena Raba, ul. Konstantego Bergiela 4/10, 80-180 Gdańsk, NIP: 5833557278. How we process personal data: www.sztukaharmonii.pl/en/polityka-prywatnosci

Frequently asked questions

Answers to the most important questions

How long after a loss can I join the group?▼

There is no fixed rule. The group usually helps most after the first weeks of acute crisis – when the formalities are over and the people around you return to their lives, while the grief is only just unfolding. In the first weeks after a loss, individual support is often the better option; we will help you assess this during the initial conversation.

Won’t listening to other people’s losses deepen my sadness?▼

This is a common worry. Experience from bereavement groups shows the opposite: contact with people who understand loss brings relief, not a burden. Sadness shared with understanding people becomes lighter than sadness carried alone. And if a session feels too hard, you have every right simply to be there and listen.

When does grief call for therapy, not just a support group?▼

If, after many months, grief is freezing everyday functioning, or you have thoughts of giving up on life, intense guilt or symptoms of trauma (e.g. intrusive images of the circumstances of the death) – individual psychotherapy is advisable, and we provide that too. The group and therapy can also run in parallel.

See also

Questions before you sign up?

Call us or join the list – before the group starts, we'll talk anyway during a free initial conversation.

Mon-Fri 8:00-22:00 · Sat-Sun 9:00-21:00