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Grief & Loss · Caregivers · In Person
Forming · a private conversation first

Grieving Before Goodbye

For those caring for someone they’re already beginning to lose.

There is almost nowhere for this grief to go — the mourning that starts while they’re still here. This is a place that can hold it.

When
Weekends · TBD
Length
Six weeks · 90 min
Circle
Six to eight people
For
Caregivers of a declining loved one
Language
English · Ukrainian · Russian
Where
182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558

You are caring for someone who is fading but not gone — a parent slipping into dementia, a spouse who is seriously or terminally ill — and you are already grieving, while everyone around you says “at least they’re still here.” You’re worn down to nothing, and the grief has nowhere to land, because the world doesn’t recognize a loss that hasn’t finished happening.

You’re not mourning too soon, and you’re not losing your mind. You’re living inside a slow loss — and that grief is real, and it deserves to be held.

This is a supportive group for people in long caregiving, centered on two things almost no one names: anticipatory grief — mourning someone who is still alive — and ambiguous loss, when they are here but not who they were. Alongside it, the exhaustion, the resentment, and the guilt that caregiving breeds, and the loneliness of grieving a loss the world won’t acknowledge yet. A private conversation comes first, so we can make sure it’s the right fit for where you are now.

♡ ♡ ♡

The six weeks

Over six evenings, among a few others living the same slow loss, we move through it gently.

Week
One

Grief that has no name yet

Naming anticipatory grief and ambiguous loss, so you stop feeling crazy for mourning someone still alive. The relief of the words.
Week
Two

The exhaustion no one sees

Caregiver burnout, the quiet erasure of your own life — and permission to have needs while someone else is dying.
Week
Three

The feelings you can’t admit

Resentment, anger, the guilty wish for it to be over, relief-in-advance. De-shaming the full range — without a flicker of judgment.
Week
Four

Loving who they are now

Especially with dementia: grieving the person they were while still caring for the person in front of you. Holding both.
Week
Five

The world that says ‘at least’

The loneliness of mourning what others can’t see — and how to be held when “at least they’re still here” lands like a dismissal.
Week
Six

Carrying it, and carrying on

Sustaining yourself for a road with no known end, and beginning to make peace with a goodbye that hasn’t come. A held closing.
How it works

Six sessions, ninety minutes each, with six to eight people, in a small closed group that stays the same from beginning to end. Held in English, Ukrainian, or Russian.

Because it holds tender and heavy things, it begins with a short private conversation before it starts — so we can make sure a group is the right fit and the right moment, and that you have the level of support you need. If something else would serve you better first, I’ll help you find it.

A practical note: caregivers rarely get away easily. Please ask about timing and whether a daytime or virtual option is running — I’d rather make it reachable than have you count yourself out.

How payment works
$65 per person, per session
Six weeks · paid in full at enrollment

Groups run out-of-network and privately. Paying in full at enrollment holds your place for the whole series — and lets the group form as a stable, closed circle: the same people, from beginning to end.

Refunds

A full refund if you withdraw before the first session. In the first two weeks, a prorated refund or a credit toward a future group. Once the group has formed, the remaining sessions aren’t refundable — the circle was built around your place in it — but if something serious comes up, talk to me and we’ll find a fair way through.

Superbill

A superbill is available for possible partial reimbursement through your out-of-network benefits. Whether a group qualifies depends on its nature, so it’s best to check with your insurance company.

To begin — a short private conversation

If you’ve been grieving someone who is still here, worn thin and unseen — you’re exactly who this is for, and you don’t have to carry it alone. Reach out, and we’ll find out together whether this is the right next step.

Contact to begin
alesia@ivycounselinggroup.com (609) 688-8300
Where we meet 182 Tamarack Circle, Skillman, NJ 08558