What does it mean to survive the loss of someone to suicide or substance?

It’s got to be more than continued breathing… more than just not dying ourselves.

At EricsHouse, we believe that the grief journey is not something that should or, even, can be done alone. It requires community.

That’s really what’s at the heart of EricsHouse – building connections and community to enable mutual healing. We start with our individual support and build on it in our groups. And we survive together and learn what survival means for each of us along the way.

There’s no set process for this, we each embark on a personal journey of exploration and discovery. Early on, it’s all we can do to encounter our feelings without getting lost in a pit of sadness and despair. In time, we become able to explore those feelings and learn from them what it is we need to keep moving. Ultimately, we hope to find hope – to discover where meaning and purpose reside for us after our loss.

And we do it together.

I have found that being in companionship with a fellow griever who finds their hope gives me hope – lifts me another step in my journey. That’s what I observe time and again in our support groups:  when someone embraces and lifts another in their group, they too are lifted. When we share stories of even momentary joys or healing, we begin to recognize that we have that too – and it is in sharing that we are lifted and begin to understand what we need to continue healing.

I have been blessed by my companions on this journey. It’s taken me to places and awareness I couldn’t have imagined in those dark early days. I am so grateful.