"Walking with Widows" Support Groups

Sponsored by Widow's Walk

The "Walking with Widows" Support Groups are facilitated by Dr. Dan Trathen. He leads the groups through grief and growth issues that are specific to widows. The group meets for 10 weeks in the Denver metro area. Call-in (telecoaching) groups are also available.

Sessions include discussions on:

• Healthy grieving vs. unhealthy grieving
• "Normal" feelings associated with widowhood
• Widow safety
• Understanding yourself
• Integrating a new identity
• Other helpful topics

New groups are forming now. If you are interested in participating, please email info@drtrathen.com.

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Comments from Participants

My name is Kim Paul, and I participated in the Widow's Walk Grief Support Group one year after losing my husband Brian. We had been married 7 years, and Brian was quadriplegic from an accident that we were in together, before we married. He unexpectedly passed away the same weekend that we adopted our precious daughter from Kyrgyzstan. I have especially struggled with the timing of Brian's death, and the fact that he never got to meet our daughter.

Widow's Walk was especially helpful to me because of the commonality of our losses, and also the ability to discuss the unique situations that we each wrestled with. We were a group of women who were near the same age, (too young to be "widows") and we were all grieving the loss of our husbands. Because of these common threads, we could have in depth discussions on topics relating to issues that pertained to our unique challenges. For example, I remember one conversation about what to do with our wedding rings. It didn't matter if we all agreed, but it was so healing and helpful to have other women to talk to about these things that most women our age don’t understand. Dr. Dan Trathen did a great job of guiding our group, allowing us to focus on what we needed, while also letting us work through and wrestle with our own individual solutions.

Knowing the women from this group has been a highlight of my healing, and I plan to keep in contact with all of them for a long time to come. Christy Cassidy is a special gift from God, and her work with widows fills a void in supporting widows that nothing else I have come across has been able to fill.

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I have had the opportunity to participate in several Walking with Widows Grief/Growth Groups sponsored by Widow's Walk and facilitated by Dr. Dan Trathen. Dr. Trathen is a gifted professional with several decades of experience. His heart and compassion for widows is evident in his approach to a difficult grief recovery process. He leads the groups through grief specific to widows. Our sessions include discussions on healthy verses unhealthy grieving, "normal" feelings associated with widowhood, widow safety, understanding yourself, integrating a new identity as well as other helpful topics in this 10 week group. The bonds which form between group participants bring a lifetime of friendship, support, and community.

I am so thankful for Dr. Trathen and the Walking with Widows groups. He truly has wisdom from a pastor's heart and a psychologist's head. I recommend this group for all widows whether in Denver or through his 10 week Walking with Widows call-in groups.

Christina Terry Cassidy
Executive Director
Widow's Walk, Inc.

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Click on the links below to find out more:

» Moving Through Grief and Loss
» Encouraging Your Child to Grieve
» Coaching for Widows