Healing Hearts: Support Groups for Grieving Mothers
Find Compassion, Understanding, and Hope Among Grieving Mothers Who Share Your Journey
These support groups for grieving mothers who have lost children to suicide are designed to offer friendship, guidance, and hope after heartbreaking loss. Groups are small, private, and led by experienced facilitators who are experts in the field of suicide loss.
Continue your journey of healing with others who truly understand your loss. This is a place where you can speak your child’s name and share your story without judgment. During your group sessions you can expect:
- 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 ~10 women maintain a safe, healing atmosphere for all. Meet with the same women over the course of four months.
Support Group Meeting Details
Our Healing Hearts Support Groups for Grieving Mothers are open to any mother grieving the loss of a child 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
Choose that group that best fits you and your schedule:
Tuesdays
- May 6 thru August 12, 2025
- 7pm (ET)
- May 6 & 20 / June 3 & 17 / July 1, 15 & 29 / August 12
Exclusive to Tuesdays, this group offers a few gentle movements and meditative exercises – done from a chair or standing, in addition to traditional group sharing.
Meet your group facilitators:
Susan Andersen
A group facilitator specializing in Yoga for Grief, Susan incorporates gentle movements and meditation with traditional group sharing. She lost her son Ian to suicide in 2012.
Ronnie Susan Walker, MS, LCPC
Founder and Executive Director of Alliance of Hope, Ronnie brings her experience as a mental health clinician and loss survivor, having lost her stepson Chan in 1995.
Jeannine Pembroke
Senior Moderator and Group Facilitator at the Alliance of Hope forum, Jeannine provides compassionate support, drawing from her own experience of losing her son Jared to suicide in 2017.
Wednesdays
- May 7 thru August 13, 2025
- 3pm (ET)
- May 7 & 21 / June 4 & 18 / July 2, 16 & 30 / August 13
Exclusive to Wednesdays, this group offers the opportunity to tap into the wisdom of two experienced support group leaders who have worked with hundreds of loss survivors.
Meet your group facilitators:
Jaletta Desmond
Jaletta brings over a decade of experience facilitating grief support groups, educating communities, and empowering others to find healing and hope. Jaletta lost her teenage daughter to suicide in 2012.
Judith Sebastian
Senior Moderator and Group Facilitator at Alliance of Hope, Judith offers compassionate guidance, drawing from her experience of losing her son David to suicide in 2019.
Thursdays
- May 22 thru August 28, 2025
- 7pm (ET)
- May 22 / June 5 & 19 / July 3, 17 & 31 / August 14 & 28
Exclusive to Thursdays, this group combines traditional sharing with short writing exercises led by award- winning author, Eileen Vorbach Collins.
Meet your group facilitators:
Eileen Vorbach Collins
An experienced facilitator and author, Eileen integrates writing exercises with traditional sharing, drawing from the loss of her daughter Lydia to suicide in 1999.
Maria Sallese
Alliance of Hope’s Assistant Forum Manager, blog editor, and group facilitator, Maria provides support grounded in her experience of losing her son, Mario to suicide in 2019.
How to Join
Our Healing Hearts Support Groups for Grieving Mothers are open to any mother grieving the loss of a child to suicide who is more than four (4) months out from their loss at the start of the program. To join, simply register for one of the three groups using the link below.
Once registered, a support group facilitator will reach out directly to schedule a one-on-one conversation about the group to ensure it’s right for you. Then, you will receive all the information you need to participate including the Zoom details via email.
Click the button below for the day of your preference:
I’m interested in Tuesdays
I’m interested in Wednesdays
I’m interested in Thursdays
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.