Bereavement coordinators are asked to do a great deal with very little: support every family for at least a year after a death, often with a small team and a smaller budget. Support groups are one of the most valued parts of that work, and one of the hardest to build from scratch.
Not Alone is a complete, free grief support group program for hospices. It gives your team everything needed to plan, lead, and keep records for grief groups: word-for-word session guides, weekly handouts for members, and companions for twelve kinds of loss. Print it, copy it, and use it with the families you serve. All three parts are in our free Hospice Staff Library, which just needs a free account.
What's in the program
Not Alone: Facilitator Kit (76 pages)
For bereavement coordinators, social workers, chaplains, counselors, and trained volunteers who lead groups.
- What the research says about grief groups, in plain language
- Planning: group types, timing, room setup, invitations, online and phone groups, accessibility, and welcoming every faith
- Intake and screening: a word-for-word intake call, an intake form, and kind ways to say "not yet"
- Leading: a timed 90-minute session plan, rituals, group agreements, facilitation skills, grieving styles, and exact words for hard moments
- Safety: step-by-step response if someone mentions suicide, warning signs, and a referral record
- Full guides for all 8 weeks, plus drop-in groups, a holiday workshop, a reunion session, and anniversary sessions
- Week 1 and Week 8 check-ins, sign-in sheets, session records, and a series summary for your documentation
Get the Facilitator Kit in the Staff Library →
These resources are free. If they've helped your team, you're welcome to leave a small thank-you gift.
Not Alone: Session Handouts (40 pages)
The pages members take home each week, written in plain language with larger text.
- A welcome page with group agreements
- Handouts and worksheets for all 8 weeks, from "Telling Your Story" to "Looking Ahead"
- Drop-in group pages, including Tools for Hard Moments with a wallet card
- Coping with the Holidays, a holiday plan, a reunion page, and Nearing the Anniversary
- A help box on every week with space for your group leader's phone number and the 988 line
Get the Session Handouts in the Staff Library →
These resources are free. If they've helped your team, you're welcome to leave a small thank-you gift.
Not Alone: Loss-Specific Companions (54 pages)
Add-on pages for groups centered on one kind of loss, or for members of a general group whose loss needs extra care.
- Twelve companions: spouse or partner, mother or father, the death of a child, brother or sister, grandparent, after caregiving ends, pregnancy and baby loss, hidden losses, sudden or violent loss, suicide loss, overdose loss, and families before the death
- Each has leader notes on what is different about the loss, a week-by-week guide for adapting the series, what to watch for, and specialized resources
- Each has a member page and a worksheet made for that loss
Get the Loss-Specific Companions in the Staff Library →
These resources are free. If they've helped your team, you're welcome to leave a small thank-you gift.
Built on what helps grieving people
Research on bereavement support shows that groups help most when people choose them, when the group fits their needs, and when support continues after the last session. Studies with families in palliative care have found that well-run bereavement support can ease grief, depression, and anxiety, especially in a group format, over more than six sessions, with professionals involved. Not Alone is built around those findings:
- Screening first, so the group fits the person, and anyone who needs more is connected to it kindly.
- Both sides of grief. Following the Dual Process Model of grief, every session pairs the feelings of loss with a practical "Life After" piece: eating and sleeping alone, new roles, paperwork, and rest.
- Room for every grieving style. Every session offers a talking activity and a doing activity, so people who grieve through action feel as welcome as those who grieve through words.
- Safety built in, with clear steps if someone is in crisis, and guidance on when grief needs more than a group can give.
- Support that lasts, with a reunion session, drop-in groups, and a personal plan for after the group ends.
The Facilitator Kit includes a full list of the research and guidance behind the program.
How the pieces work together
The leader uses the Facilitator Kit to run each 90-minute meeting. Members receive that week's pages from the Session Handouts to follow along, use during the activity, and take home. For a group centered on one kind of loss, such as widows and widowers or bereaved parents, add the matching Loss-Specific Companion.
Each companion also points families to a free in-depth book for their loss, so members leave with something to keep reading long after the group ends.
Want Not Alone themed for your hospice?
Every form has a line for your hospice's name, so the program works as-is when printed. If you'd like a version with your hospice's name, logo, and colors throughout, we'd be glad to help. Reach out through our For Hospice & Care Teams page and tell us what you have in mind.
More free resources for hospice teams
Not Alone is part of a growing library of free resources for hospices and the families they serve, including a 13-month bereavement letter series, a memorial service kit, a faith and culture guide for hospice teams, vigil program resources, and a grief camp program. Find the team resources in our free Hospice Staff Library, grief books for every kind of loss on our For Hospice & Care Teams page, and family-friendly printables on our Free Printables page.
These materials offer general information and sample resources for grief support groups. They are not medical or mental health advice, and a support group is not therapy. Please have your bereavement and clinical leaders review the safety and referral steps before use. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.