TDC – The Dougy Center – National Center for Grieving Children and Families – Support Groups

Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children and Families

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Website: https://www.dougy.org

Phone: 503-775-5683

Phone Toll Free: 866-775-5683

Email: help@dougy.org

A safe place to talk. A safe place to listen.

People grieving a death often feel like no one understands what they’re going through. And truthfully, no one’s grief is exactly same. But people tell us the help they appreciate most comes from sharing with others who are also grieving a death.

Our children’s support groups are designed around age, type of death, and the connection to the person who died. Parent/adult caregiver groups run at the same time as the children’s support groups. Around 500 children and 350 adult family members come to our groups each month. Each person decides how long he or she wants to be at The Dougy Center.

In the groups, there is no right or wrong way to be. Nobody will tell you it’s time to move on. Or that an emotion you have is wrong or inappropriate. Here, through talking and listening, you’re free to find hope and comfort in your own personal way. Children can express themselves through play, music, art, games, and sharing.

Our unique approach, using peer group support to help people discover their own way through grief, has made The Dougy Center a worldwide leader in the field. More than 500 programs based on our model now thrive in the U.S., Canada, Africa, Australia, Europe and Japan. Our guidebooks assist parents, schools and others who deal with children affected by death, and our children’s activity books provide them an outlet for expression.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Dougy Center is hosting virtual support groups for our bereavement and Pathways programs. If your family lives in the Portland metro area and would like to participate, please call 503.775.5683 or email help@dougy.org.

At The Dougy Center we realize that:

  • Grief is a natural reaction to death;
  • Each individual has a natural capacity to heal from loss;
  • Duration and intensity of grief are unique to each individual; and
  • Caring and acceptance assist in the healing process.

Support Group FAQs

https://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/faqs/

Bill of Rights for Grieving Teens

https://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/bill-of-rights/

Orientation

Orientation lasts approximately one hour. During that time, adults and children/teens are broken into separate groups where we explain the program. Questions are answered, and everyone is given a tour. Children and teens watch a Dougy Center video produced by the TV program 20/20. The adults learn about how to have a child or teen begin participation at the Center and receive all the application forms. Coming to an orientation does not mean the child/teen becomes a participant. We encourage the adults to allow the children and teens to make the final decision for themselves.

Pathways Groups

https://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/pathways/

Spanish Support (Esperanza: Grupos en Espanol):

https://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/esperanza-spanish-support-group/

LYGHT Groups – Listening and Led by Youth in Foster Care: Grief, Hope, and Transitions

At the core of the L.Y.G.H.T. program, we aim to raise awareness about how grieving youth in foster care experience marginalization on various levels, create ways to provide trauma-informed peer support to youth in foster care, and promote the importance of moving the child welfare community toward a grief-informed holistic model of care.

“It helps you to feel like you are not alone. They are also going through something as well and you can help each other.” – L.Y.G.H.T. program participant

https://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/lyght/

Grief Support Groups in Oregon listed with Dougy Center for those not in Portland:

19 places based on search at:  https://www.dougy.org/grief-support-programs/


*Cason’s Place: Grief Support for Children and Families of Eastern Oregon

1416 SE Court Avenue
PO Box 1142
Pendleton, Oregon 97801

p: (541) 612.0828
www.casonsplace.org


*Blue Mountain Hospice

422 West Main
John Day, Oregon 97845

p: (541) 575-1648
www.bluemountainhospital.org


*Vange John Memorial Hospice/Good Shepherd Medical Center

645 W. Orchard Avenue, Suite 300
Hermiston, Oregon 97838

p: (541) 667-3543
f: (541) 667-3544
www.gshealth.org/hospice/


Benton Hospice Service

2350 NW Professional Drive
Corvallis, Oregon 97330

p: (541) 757-9616
p: (800) 898-9616
f: (541) 757-1760
www.bentonhospice.org


*SHELL: Support and Healing for Early Life Losses

Mt. Hood Hospice
PO Box 1269
39641 Scenic Street
Sandy, Oregon 97055

p: (503) 668-5545
f: (503) 668-5545
www.mthoodhospice.org


Me Too. and Company

PO Box 10796
Portland, Oregon 97296

p: (503) 228-2104
www.oregonhospice.org


*Mercy Medical Center Hospice

Wings of Hope
2400 Stewart Parkway
Roseburg, Oregon 97470

p: (541) 677-2384
f: (541) 440-0761


*Courageous Kids/Hospice of Sacred Heart

1121 Fairfield Ave
Eugene, Oregon 97402

p: (541) 461-7577
f: (541) 461-7697
www.peacehealth.org


Mourning Resources Inc.

PO Box 82573
Portland, Oregon 97202

p: (503) 777-0433


*Light House Center

1620 Thompson Rd
Coos Bay, Oregon 97420

p: (541) 269-2986
f: (541) 267-0458


Good Grief – Lovejoy Hospice

939 SE 8th St
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526

p: (541) 474-1193
p: (888) 758-8569
f: (541) 474-3035
www.lovejoyhospice.org


*Douglas Community Hospital

738 W Harvard
Roseburg, Oregon 97470

p: (541) 673-6641


Partners in Care

2075 NE Wyatt Ct
Bend, Oregon 97701

p: (541) 382-5882
www.partnersbend.org/bend-hospice-services/childrens-grief-support/


My Friends House Inc.

1293 Wall Street #1339
PMB 1339
Bend, Oregon 97701

p: (541) 382-5882
www.partnersbend.org/bend-hospice-services/childrens-grief-support/


St. Anthony Hospital Hospice

3001 St. Anthony Way, Level 2
Pendleton, Oregon 97801

p: (541) 276-4100
f: (541) 276-4103
www.sahpendleton.org/services/hospice/


Compassionate Friends Portland Chapter

PO Box 3065
Portland, Oregon 97208-3065

p: (503) 248-0102
www.portlandtcf.org/home.aspx


*Winterspring

PO Box 8169
Medford, Oregon 97501

p: (541) 772-2527
www.winterspring.org


*Willamette Valley Hospice

Willamette Valley Hospice
1015 3rd Street NW
Salem, Oregon 97304

p: (503) 588-3600
p: (800) 555-2431
f: (503) 363-3891
www.wvh.org


The Dougy Center

3909 SE 52nd Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97206

p: 503 775-5683
f: 503 777-3097
dougy.org