Center resources

1. Great Rivers 2-1-1

Great Rivers 2-1-1 offers information and referrals for grief support groups and counselors. Their service is free and confidential. Click on the link above to learn more, or contact them by dialing 2-1-1, in La Crosse-Onalaska, or (800) 362-8255

2. Mayo Clinic Health System, Support Groups: Healing through Grief

The support group Healing through Grief is offered on alternate Mondays from Aug. 6- Dec 10, 2018 in the Dale Conference Room on the second floor at the Mayo Clinic Hospital Building, 700 W. Avenue South. Various topics are explored each week. The next session on Nov. 12 is titled "Coping through anniversaries and the holidays." The group is free and confidential. Registration is not required. You can attend any or all sessions. Click on the link above to learn more, or contact them at 608-785-0940, ext. 22218. They also offer individual support with a healthcare chaplain who has specialized training in grief. 

3. Gundersen Health System Support Groups

Gundersen Medical Care, 1900 South Avenue offers free group grief support for 6 week sessions at different times throughout the year. Contact them at (609) 775-3620 for current dates. Their website includes information about various grief support outlets in La Crosse. Click on the link above. 

4. La Crosse Area Suicide Prevention

Visit their website by clicking on the link above to access information and resources for suicide prevention and to learn about local awareness events. 

5. Respecting Choices

This internationally recognized program has used evidence=based research to create an effective model of advance care planning. Click on the link above for information about their program, advance care planning options and options to become a certified facilitator, who can guide others with conversations about the end of life and advance care documents. 

6. Home Funerals are legal in Wisconsin. The Threshold Care Circle, located in Viroqua offers information on home funerals and assists with home funerals. Click on the link above to learn more about their important and moving work. 

7. Explore local author, Christy Wopat's website, to learn more about her book, Almost a Mother, and to access grief resources on pregnancy and infant loss.  

An extensive collection of over 1000 titles associated with grief and death is available through Murphy Library.

Interested parties can search for the following phrase "Center for Grief and Death Education "

1. "The Canadian Virtual Hospice provides support and personalized information about palliative and end-of-life care to patients, family members, health care providers, researchers and educators." Access this informative site here: http://www.virtualhospice.ca/en_US/Home+Navigation/About+Us.aspx

2. The Canadian Virtual Hospice also offers videos and modules to explore and work with personal grief and to learn about cultural approaches to grief as well as coping resources: http://www.mygrief.ca

3. Learn more about grief dreams by learning about Joshua Black and listening to his podcast, where he interviews everyday people and bereavement professionals about their own grief dreams and how their dreams influence their grief process and approach to life. Follow the link to access this Canadian site: http://www.griefdreams.ca

4. Learn about international hospice and palliative care efforts and resources at the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care site. 

5. The International Association for Suicide Prevention is the largest international group addressing suicide prevention. Click on the link above to access information, resources, newsletters and articles. 

1. The Hospice Foundation of America offers information about hospice care, educational programs and more. 

2. The Conversation Project offers "starter kits," a useful tool that helps family members to have conversations about end of life decisions and more. This site also has a blog with resources and articles on various topics relating to the death, dying, grief, bereavement, and caregiving. 

1. The Suicide Tourist takes a look at DIGNITAS, an organization in Switzerland that offers assisted death to anyone with a terminal illness or condition deemed as severe physical or mental suffering. Through personal stories, the motivation to die using the assistance provided at DIGNITAS, is explored. 

2. Learn more about the Lynch and Sons funeral home, the business of running a funeral home, and families who are planning a funeral and coping with grief through the moving documentary, The Undertaking.