Bereavement Counseling

All of our groups are currently being held virtually via Zoom. Contact us for more information by emailing Ryan Loiselle at r.loiselle@friendsway.org.

FRIENDS WAY offers open-ended groups for children ages 3 to 18 and their families following the death of a significant person in their lives. There is no fee charged for participation in our programs. All sessions are facilitated by a qualified clinician and professionally trained volunteers.

Programs

Rhode Island’s only bereavement center dedicated to serving children and teens, ages three to eighteen, and their families.

FRIENDS WAY remains steadfast in our commitment of providing peer support to grieving families in a safe, nurturing environment and is staffed with mental health professionals and extensively trained volunteers from the community who assist children and their families through their grief with comfort and support from peers struggling with similar feelings of loss.

FRIENDS WAY is a division of Gateway Healthcare, a Lifespan partner. With multiple locations throughout Rhode Island, Gateway is the largest provider of behavioral health care services in the state and serves more than 15,000 clients annually.

• Monthly support group meetings
• Quarterly newsletter
• Resource library and literature on grieving
• Annual Candle Lighting Ceremony the second Sunday in December
  Remembrance Garden in downtown Providence

The Compassionate Friends (TCF) Providence Chapter, a national, nonprofit support organization that offers friendship, understanding, and hope to families who are grieving the death of a child of any age, from any cause.

The secret of TCF’s success is simple: As seasoned grievers reach out to the newly bereaved, energy that has been directed inward begins to flow outward and both are helped to heal. Our vision is that everyone who needs us will find us and everyone who finds us will be helped.

There is no religious affiliation and all are welcome.

Hosts Camp Braveheart, ages 4-17, a camp for those children who have experienced loss. link

Camp program was available virtually in 2020. 

Pediatric Care (PediPal) PediPal is our palliative care program for children and families in Massachusetts.

• Bereavement Support Groups

Provides 24 hour crisis counseling line for anyone who has lost a baby. Grief support for those who have suffered a loss due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and other sleep-related infant deaths and stillbirth.