Our groups operate 24-hours/day, 365 days/year.  Members participate when they wish and are able to, not at a set time.  When one member of a group sends a message to the group, everyone in the group receives a copy. This allows many people to respond with love and caring to the thoughts and feelings of an individual, day and night, year-round. Since 1994 these groups have helped thousands of people around the world deal safely with their grief.  You may wish to read some of our testimonials.

All groups are monitored by trained volunteers who make sure that the groups are running smoothly.  Backing them up are Stephen Cox, our On-Line Support Groups Administrator, and Cendra Lynn, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and grief therapist.
 
 

GriefNet discussion and support groups:

RESEARCHERS please do not solicit responses from our users on the support groups. Please see our page on Researching using GriefNet at http://www.griefnet.org/research.html.
 

Loss of spouse or partner:
grief-widowed is a support group for anyone who has lost a partner or a spouse at any age, at any time, of any sexual orientation. If/when subscribers find a need for a more focused list, that can be created.
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griefwidowed-movingon is our support group for anyone who has lost a partner or a spouse at any age, at any time, of any sexual orientation, and who has moved on beyond the first raw stages of dealing with that loss. This list was formed at the request of people in grief-widowed group whose issues have become different from those who are newly bereaved. Some persons subscribe to both lists.
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Loss of child
grieving-parents is our general parents support group for parents who have had a child of any age die from any cause, whether recently or long ago. Other groups have spun off from these two groups. Topics in these bereaved parents groups overlap, and you are welcome to join as many of these lists as you wish. They are:

birth-mothers is our support and discussion group for women who have put a baby up for adoption, whether recently or long ago.
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grief-choice is our support group for women who have had an abortion. This group is not open to anyone else, and the approval of the list-owner is required in order to join.
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Loss of a parent
adult-parents is for adults who have lost a parent at any time, now or in the past, whether as an adult or as a child, and for those whose parents are chronically or terminally ill.
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k2k is our kids-to-kids support group for children dealing with any loss. Adults may lurk but only kids may send messages. Kids who want to join should have a parent's permission to join. Kids under 18 will have their parent or guardian contacted by GriefNet to confirm their permission for the kid to join.
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Loss of sibling or friend
adult-sibs is a list for adults and older adolescents who have had a sibling die, whether recently or long ago.
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grief-friends is a support group created in the memory of Richard Weigel, 26 June 1960 - 15 June 1999, a dear friend of our webmaster.
The loss of a friend is not recognized socially, though the loss of a friend can leave a bigger hole in our lives than the loss of family.  This group is a place where one can grieve this very special loss with others who have experienced the loss of their friends.
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k2k is our kids-to-kids support group for children dealing with any loss. Adults may lurk but only kids may send messages. Kids who want to join should have a parent's permission to join. Kids under 18 will have their parent or guardian contacted by GriefNet to confirm their permission for the kid to join.
Join k2k
 

Losses related to health
grief-aids is a support group for anyone dealing with AIDS or HIV+. This group includes patients, parents, family, friends, lovers, and anyone whose life has been touched and altered by AIDS.
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grief-coping is a support group for persons coping with a life-threatening illness. This group includes not only the person who is ill, but their families and caregivers, as well.
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grief-health is a support group for those dealing with a physical loss, such as chronic illness, disability, or loss of a body part or function. This is not for support of a particular illness or disability, but for adjusting to the realization that you do not have the health or abilities you might wish for.
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griefcoping-substanceabuse: This list is an on-line support group for persons dealing with the death or chronic illness of a loved one due to their substance abuse. This includes not only the person who died or is ill, but their family and caregivers, as well.
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Unique losses
grief-men is our group for bereaved men who want especially to talk with other men about their loss
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grief-pets is an on-line support group for anyone dealing with the loss of a pet--any pet, whether the loss is recent or not, or even the imminent death of a pet.
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grief-violence is a support group for persons who have lost loved ones due to violence, including murder.
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grief-orientation is a group for persons whose sexual orientation, (whether acted on or not) has created losses. These losses may be in relationships, in self-image, or community status. New subscribers to this list will be asked for a short (3-4 sentence) bio before being added to ensure that they are really interested. This information will be kept completely private, and only the list monitor will see it.
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grief-suicide is a support group for people who have lost friends or family to suicide.
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Spiritual aspects of loss
grief-religion is for anyone wishing to be part of in-depth discussions of religion, faith, and/or spirituality as an integral part of grieving. People from any religious orientation, or none at all, are welcome. Tolerance and respect are hallmarks of this group.
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grief-spirits is a place for discussion about beliefs and experiences about contact between those who have died and survivors. Many people who have had a loved one die have had some experience of contact with that loved one. Many others wish desperately for some such contact. Discussions about this topic also upset some people in various ways. So we have created this list as a place for this topic to be aired. If this is a topic that upsets you, this is not the list for you. GriefNet is a place for all who grieve, of whatever orientation or belief. GriefNet is also a place where we respect each other and our differences. There are places here for all of us.
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Working with the bereaved
adec-chat is a discussion group for any member of ADEC [the Association for Death Education and Counselling]. We run this list as a donation to ADEC, and don't check whether you're really a member, so if you're not, you are on your honor to join ADEC. To do so go to http://adec.org/
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grief-training is our group open to anyone wishing to discuss issues related to training professionals or lay people about dealing with grief, bereavement, death, dying, and other forms of major loss.
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Topics not covered above
grief-chat is our general discussion list for any topic related to death, dying, bereavement, or other major loss. As threads appear which generate a lot of interest, other lists spin off, such as grief-parents or grief-training.
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living-with-loss is a group for those who have come to terms with their loss and are not disrupted by grief in a daily way, but who still want to have a place to come and talk about their loss. We never truly get over a loss; we learn to live with it. Often this "living in it" requires finding others who care where one can re-tell the loss, deal with anniversaries, disturbing memories, and other sneak-attacks of grief.
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