Bereavement: 4 benefits of virtual support
By Camille Baillargeon, Content Writer
If you're struggling with grief and that seems to be taking over your life, you may be looking for ways to bring a little sweetness into your day. You should know that there are many support options available to help you through
this universal and human trial. Réflexions du Cœur specializes in a 100% digital bereavement support.
We have met with Martine Lafontaine, founder of Réflexions du Cœur and facilitator of its workshops to find out what she considers to be the four strong points of virtual support.
1- Fast, professional help
Unfortunately, healthcare services are not equipped to provide a close follow-up with families following a death, which is necessary to begin the grieving process. Urgel Bourgie/Athos, in collaboration with Réflexions du Cœur, offers a unique professional help service: conferences, immediately accessible online programs and virtual support groups. It's all designed to soothe intense bereavement and help the deceased relatives to begin the process. Online, it's easy to access all these resources quickly and privately. In a way, light is at the end of the keyboard.
2- Service based on human experience
You've probably heard the expression "Time heals all wounds". Ms. Lafontaine disagrees. On the contrary, she is convinced that grief is not a passive, but an active process that needs to be "worked on" in order to find healing. Réflexions du Cœur was born out of the founder's own experience of deep grief and her need to find answers to a multitude of questions about the death she had suffered. Ms. Lafontaine combines this personal experience with her professional background without confining herself to traditional theoretical frameworks, such as the popular stages of grief, preferring instead a unique and personalized approach to each individual. Grief is a relational wound and cannot be contained within the aforementioned theoretical framework.
3- Meeting the crucial needs of the bereaved
There are 4 basic needs of the bereaved person:
- The need to express oneself and communicate one's grief,
- The need to feel truly listened to by one's peers (active listening),
- The need for security in a world where all one's bearings are crumbling,
- The need to connect, to find oneself among other mourners, to see that others have gone before us and are perhaps a few steps ahead.
The virtual gathering of the bereaved that naturally occurs in an online support group, or at conferences such as "Noël en Deuil", promotes connection between people, brings a host of listening ears and wise counsel from those a little further along in the grieving process, and represents a safe space to vent.
4- A modern solution to a modern problem
Grief and death are more hidden than ever in our world, isolating the grieving individual enormously. In the past, it was not uncommon for neighbors to rally together to provide for their loved ones. Nowadays, communities rarely rally around bereaved families to offer emotional and physical support. Réflexions du Coeur offers a virtual alternative by creating a community of like-minded individuals in similar situations. The various means of support offered by Urgel Bourgie/Athos and Réflexions du Coeur bring together a group of individuals of all genders, ages and regions in a single virtual space creating a vast and varied support network.
However, Martine Lafontaine truly thinks that healing is possible and attainable. She points out that bereavement is not a cure, but rather a transformation. The pain never disappears entirely but it softens with time and work.
If you're looking for relief, let us be your guide. Call us at 514-735-2025 to speak with an advisor today.