Facing the Future
Facing the Future support groups give our participants the opportunity to meet others (on Zoom) who have lost someone to suicide, and to share their experiences and feelings. Each support group is run by two specially-trained volunteers with previous experience in their parent organisation. The emphasis is on peer-to-peer support by the participants; the facilitators do not set an agenda, do not offer advice and do not provide counselling.
The closed online groups meet at the same time each week over six consecutive weeks (with different groups starting on different days of the week/different times of the day), and each session lasts for 90 minutes. There are around eight participants in each group and sessions are free of charge.
It is important that all participants in a group are able to attend the first session, and we would hope that they can attend the other five as well in order to get the most out of the experience.
If you would like to register your interest in joining a Facing the Future group on Zoom, please visit our 'Register' page.
You must be over 18 to join a group and have lost someone to suicide over three months ago. Many people experience shock when they lose someone and it can take several months before they are able to share their experiences and hear the experiences of others in a group setting. Each group will include people with differing experiences, circumstances, backgrounds and relationship to the person who has died.
Our experience shows that people get the most out of the sessions if they don’t know their fellow group members before the group starts. This means it’s not possible to participate in a support group with a family member or friend.