Voices Of Grief Support and Education Center Hosts Community Presentations Featuring Grief Counselor, Dr. Alan Wolfelt

Official Logo Voices of Grief Support and Education Center

September 28 and 29 at the UCCS Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Open to the public. Register online: voicesofgriefcenter.org

We are overwhelmed with grief and loss. The suicide rate in Colorado is one of the highest in the nation. The rates of drug/alcohol abuse and the fentanyl deaths have also traumatized our community.”
— Kathy Sparnins, Voices of Grief Center
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Voices of Grief Support and Education Center, a non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will host world-renowned Dr. Alan Wolfelt on September 28 and 29 during community presentations at the UCCS Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both days are open to the public, pre-registration is required to attend either session.

“Dr. Wolfelt is a compassionate, inspiring storyteller and a grief companion who teaches about some of the stigmas we face in mental health around grief and suicide,” said Kathy Sparnins, Pikes Peak region grief counselor and executive director of the Voices of Grief Center. “Dr. Wolfelt excels in exploring and addressing the special needs of people who are grieving and mourning. In a society where mourning is often not dealt with at all, he teaches people to grieve and mourn well.”

September is National Suicide Prevention and Awareness month. The Voices of Grief Center made the decision to invest in this high level of education and training to give back a gift of encouragement to families and professionals in the community. “We are overwhelmed with grief and loss. Many folks in our community have requested that Dr. Wolfelt speak about the grief of suicide,” said Sparnins. “Our suicide rate in Colorado is one of the highest in the nation. We have a large military presence and since COVID we are in a crisis of grief. The rates of drug and alcohol abuse and the fentanyl deaths have also traumatized our community.”

LOCATION FOR BOTH EVENTS: UCCS ENT Center for the Arts - 5225 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs

WEDNESDAY, September 28th, 6:30-8:30 pm, Exploring the Need to Grieve and Mourn - FREE to professionals and anyone experiencing grief in their lives or wanting to help friends or family who are going through grief.

THURSDAY, September 29th 9:00 am-3:30 pm, Exploring Grief After Suicide - free with $25 charge for lunch (scholarships available) this focus will be on families, caregivers, as well as professionals and those wanting to support suicide survivors.

REGISTRATION: www.voicesofgriefcenter.org or call: 719.286.0612

When someone dies of suicide - 150 people are left to grieve. The Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment reported a total of 6057 deaths in El Paso County in 2021. An El Paso County Coroner investigation determined that 17% of those were attributed to suicide.
The Center recently partnered with UCCS to design and distribute a survey for the community and professionals to measure whether these two groups saw the need for additional grief services in the Pikes Peak Region. “We collaborated with UCCS’s most esteemed professors to design a survey seeking to hear first-hand what people in our community think about the needs of additional grief support,” said Sparnins. The results showed that 93% of professionals responding to the survey stated a need for expanded services. The Center will present the full results of the survey on September 12 to the Colorado Springs City Council.

Dr. Wolfelt is known for his compassionate message of hope and healing. In a world that sometimes stigmatizes grief, he teaches that grief is a natural process, one to be honored.

Sparnins thanks the group of sponsors who has made these two presentations possible: The Springs Funeral Services, Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Silver Key, Peak View Behavioral Health; Diversus Health; UCCS Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience; UCCS Gerontology Center; Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention; Paul Wood and Terri Flores-Brown; Dr. Nancy Saltzman; Paula Levy, Never Alone Consulting and Max Levy, Heartbeat and The Swiss Chalet and Peppertree restaurants.

PLEASE CONTACT: Kathy Sparnins, 719 659-0447
Executive Director, Voices of Grief Support and Education Center



About Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt/The Center for Loss and Life Transition
Dr. Alan Wolfelt founded the Center for Loss in 1984 to offer education and support both to grievers and bereavement caregivers. Well respected for his inspiring teaching ability, Dr. Wolfelt is a past recipient of the Association for Death Education Death Educator Award. He is known around the world for his compassionate messages of hope and healing as well as his companioning philosophy of grief care. Dr. Wolfelt speaks on grief-related topics, offers trainings for caregivers, and has written many bestselling books and other resources on grief for both caregivers and grieving people. The Center is an organization dedicated to helping people who are grieving and those who care for them. Perhaps someone you love has died, or you want to help a grieving friend or family member. Or maybe you are a professional or volunteer grief caregiver. Either way, they are there to offer resources and understanding. www.centerforloss.com; DrWolfelt@centerforloss.com 970.226-6050

About Kathy Sparnins/The Voices of Grief Education Support and Education Center
Over the past 20 years, Sparnins work has specifically centered on grief education and support for families suffering significant loss in both El Paso and Teller Counties. While facilitating grief education and support groups, she created a bereavement program for a local hospice and produced a film documentary “Voices of Grief, Honoring the Sacred Journey” which premiered in Colorado Springs in 2016 and was privileged to be screened at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention in Washington, D.C. in 2017.
The mission of the Voices of Grief Support and Education Center is to work to transform the way people encounter grief. Their vision is to create supportive spaces to honor the natural process of grief and to educate the community in healthy expressions of grief and mourning.
www.voicesofgriefcenter.org; kathy.sparnins@voicesofgrief.org 719.659.0447

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