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Find Support > Finding Your Way: For Women Who Have Lost Husbands or Partners

Finding Your Way: For Women Who Have Lost Husbands or Partners

Find Compassion, Understanding, and Hope Among Grieving Spouses/Partners Who Share Your Journey 

Losing a spouse or partner to suicide is a shattering experience. In the aftermath, many survivors are left feeling emotionally broken, guilt-ridden, and lost.

This supportive 8-session group offers grieving women a way to connect with each other and with others who have already traveled a similar grief journey. It is designed to offer friendship, wisdom, and guidance for those whose lives have been suddenly altered.

  • Empathy and Understanding: Connect with others who have walked in your shoes. Here, you are not alone.
  • Guided Conversations: Our sessions are led by trained facilitators who provide gentle guidance, ensuring that every voice is heard.
  • Shared Experiences: Find comfort in the shared experiences of others who have navigated similar paths of grief and healing.
  • Safe and Supportive Environment: Our experienced facilitators ensure this closed group of approximately 10 women maintains a safe, healing atmosphere for all. Meet with the same women over the course of four months.

Finding Your Way: For Women Who Have Lost Husbands or Partners

 

Support Group Meeting Details

  • Who: Open to any woman grieving the loss of a spouse or partner to suicide, provided they are at least four months out from their loss at the time the group begins.
  • What: Eight Sessions, 90 minutes long, every other week 
  • Where: Online via Zoom
  • Note: These are “closed” rather than “drop-in” support groups. This means you travel the grief journey with the same people every session.
  • Cost: $280

Mondays

  • September 14 thru December 21, 2026
  • 7 pm (ET)
  • September 14 & 28 / October 12 & 26 / November 9 & 23 / December 7 & 21

Meet your group facilitators:

Ronnie Susan Walker, MS, LCPC

Ronnie Susan Walker, MS, LCPC

Ronnie is the Founder and Executive Director of Alliance of Hope. A mental health clinician and loss survivor, she carries the lived experience of losing her stepson, Chan, in 1995. Ronnie is the recipient of multiple awards—including “Loss Survivor of the Year” from the American Association of Suicidology and the Father Charles T. Ruby Award from Catholic Charities, Chicago—for her innovative work with loss survivors.

Johna Tichenor

Johna Tichenor

Johna Tichenor is a kindergarten teacher and trained support group facilitator. She is also a loss survivor. After her husband died by suicide over a decade ago, she raised three young children. Before facilitating groups, Johna served as a senior moderator on the Alliance of Hope forum, offering support and hope to hundreds of survivors. Today, she helps other loss survivors find hope and healing.

Tuesdays

  • September 8 thru December 15, 2026
  • 7 pm (ET)
  • September 8 & 22 / October 6 & 20 / November 3 & 17 / December 1 & 15

Meet your group facilitators:

Terry Sherman

Terry Sherman

Terry joined the Alliance of Hope forum in 2014 after losing her beloved husband to suicide. Widowed at 51, she has found comfort and purpose in supporting other survivors. She has served as a Senior Forum Moderator, Forum Stewards Program Manager, and Widows Support Groups Facilitator for the last five years. Terry is a Master Gardener who volunteers with her local fire department and a bird rescue organization.

Kristina Haddad

Kristina Haddad

Kristina Haddad lost her husband, Brett, in August 2021. In the days following his death, she found AOH, which quickly became a lifeline for her. She has participated in multiple widows’ support groups, utilized AOH counseling services, and served as a forum Steward for the last two years. Kristina created a nonprofit to honor her husband’s legacy (Brett’s Bass Fund). She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her two dogs, Ernie and Lulu.

Meet your group facilitators:

Ronnie Susan Walker, MS, LCPC

Ronnie Susan Walker, MS, LCPC

Ronnie is the Founder and Executive Director of Alliance of Hope. A mental health clinician and loss survivor, she carries the lived experience of losing her stepson, Chan, in 1995. Ronnie is the recipient of multiple awards—including “Loss Survivor of the Year” from the American Association of Suicidology and the Father Charles T. Ruby Award from Catholic Charities, Chicago—for her innovative work with loss survivors.

Johna Tichenor

Johna Tichenor

Johna Tichenor is a kindergarten teacher and trained support group facilitator. She is also a loss survivor. After her husband died by suicide over a decade ago, she raised three young children. Before facilitating groups, Johna served as a senior moderator on the Alliance of Hope forum, offering support and hope to hundreds of survivors. Today, she helps other loss survivors find hope and healing.

Meet your group facilitators:

Terry Sherman

Terry Sherman

Terry joined the Alliance of Hope forum in 2014 after losing her beloved husband to suicide. Widowed at 51, she has found comfort and purpose in supporting other survivors. She has served as a Senior Forum Moderator, Forum Stewards Program Manager, and Widows Support Groups Facilitator for the last five years. Terry is a Master Gardener who volunteers with her local fire department and a bird rescue organization.

Kristina Haddad

Kristina Haddad

Kristina Haddad lost her husband, Brett, in August 2021. In the days following his death, she found AOH, which quickly became a lifeline for her. She has participated in multiple widows’ support groups, utilized AOH counseling services, and served as a forum Steward for the last two years. Kristina created a nonprofit to honor her husband’s legacy (Brett’s Bass Fund). She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her two dogs, Ernie and Lulu.

How to Join

Register for one of our two groups by using the link below.

After you register, a facilitator will contact you to schedule a one-on-one conversation to ensure it’s right for you. You’ll then receive all the necessary details, including Zoom instructions, via email.

 Join the Monday Group Join the Tuesday Group

Previous Participants Have Written:

This program has been singularly the most valuable grief work I have done over the past three years. There is still much to do, but I feel stronger in my ability to continue the hard work thanks to the women I met in this program. The vision and leadership of Ronnie Walker and her team to provide a program for our unique relationship is invaluable. She and her team are amazing in their steadfast commitment to our slow steady healing. I am forever grateful.

~Heidi G.

The ‘Finding Your Way’ program has been a lifeline. To connect and share with other women who are walking this torrential path of loss brings comfort and is so powerful – they truly understand the complexity and depth of losing a husband or partner. I learned pearls of truth, insights and wisdom from each participant and our group leaders.

~Kristina H.

Disclaimer: This program offers a safe space to connect with fellow survivors and explore helpful concepts for healing. It is not a substitute for ongoing medical or mental health care, nor is it intended for managing serious mental illnesses.