FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Dealing with feelings of sadness, anger and hurt can overwhelm even the strongest of people, and understanding how to process grief can be imperative to self-healing.
Learning the proper way to grieve is the purpose of the GriefShare program, which is managed through the Fort Campbell Family Life Center. The first of 12 weekly meetings for GriefShare will begin Wednesday and run through April 15. The sessions will be held at Liberty Chapel from 10 a.m. until noon.
Chaplain (Maj.) Jerry Hall, Fort Campbell Family Life Center chaplain, said the GriefShare program is a faith-based recovery group designed to help people recover from the deep hurt of loss.
"The problem I see in our society ... is someone dies and in two days they are buried, and people are expected to go on with their life so they bury the grief to move forward," Hall said. "This is a 12-week program that helps people process that grief."
Even in divorce there is grief, Hall added.
"People sometimes don't deal with that grief, and they jump into another relationship that fails because they never dealt with the issues from the first relationship," he said. "Part of this [program] is to help people … be vulnerable."
Hall said this program is largely important because the Army is coming out of more than 12 years of war.
"A lot of folks lost battle buddies downrange and they have never grieved, so what we are trying to convey is that grieving is helpful -- in the right way," he said.
Karen Kearby, Fort Campbell Family Life Center intern, said the program is here to help Soldiers and their Families get through the grief process in a safe environment.
"Grief does not discriminate, so it can be about losing a pet, a child losing their parent, a parent losing their child," she said. "There are no boundaries on grief."
Kearby, who has helped facilitate previous sessions, said those who are interested in the program can expect to meet with others who are going through the grieving process, as well as watching videos featuring personal stories, journaling and discussion.
"They learn a safe way to process their grief and learn healthy coping mechanisms that they may have not known or understood before," she said. "We also talk about the video and what resonated with them personally … we discuss how that relates to what they are going through. The videos serve as a foundation for talking points."
"Narrative therapy talks about journaling and it found that journaling is easier for people to get stuff out than talking about it," Hall added.
Jennifer Hurst, Fort Campbell Family Life Center intern, added that the program also serves as a support group.
"You see that you are not alone. It kind of normalizes what happens during grief, what feelings you feel and validates it," Hurst said. "You are with all these other people too who are going through the same thing, so you have people you can talk to outside of session. You make connections, not just with us at the Family Life Center, but also with people in the real world."
The basic guidelines of the program are confidentiality and sharing. While there is no requirement to share your experience with others, it is encouraged in order to help the grief process, Hall said.
Hall encourages those interested in the program to attend each meeting beginning with the first session, because each session builds upon the last, but will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
"[GriefShare] is here to help them process whatever grief they may have," he said. "We are here for all [military] I.D. card holders."
For more information and to register for the GriefShare program, contact Alberta Lampkins at (270) 798-3316 or email her at alberta.lampkins.civ@mail.mil.
Editor's note: This is the first in a series on programs offered through the Family Life Center.
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