Continuing Care Program
After the loss of a loved one there is much that needs to be done and, from our many years of experience, we know that you may have many concerns. As a service to our families we offer a Continuing Care Program. This program provides essential follow-up services after the funeral arrangements for your loved one are complete. A knowledgeable, caring professional will help and assist you through some of the decisions you may need to make over the next few days and weeks. Please know that our support and care continue, helping you with looming questions so the unknown is not faced alone. Thank you for allowing our Continuing Care Coordinator to arrange a time with you to share this important information. Call (608) 238-3434 or email Info@CressFuneralService.com to begin this process now.
Support and follow-up bereavement services for families and individuals served by Cress Funeral Service are part of the Circle of Care offered. Often in the process of rebuilding and mourning it is helpful to seek the care and support of someone who understands the journey of life after loss. If you would like to speak with someone who has this experience and has dedicated themselves to offering support and feedback to facilitate growth through loss, Cress recommends, Sara Tripalin, Your Peace of Mind Therapy, www.yourpeaceofmindtherapy.com. Sara has been in practice at the UW Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center and The Family Center Outpatient Clinic and will listen and guide you through this very difficult time of life.
In addition, we have an extensive library of support material and recommended resource links to foundations and organizations focused on grief and loss. The following is a brief list for your convenience. Please let us know if you find these helpful or if you have recommendations to add to our list.
Grief Articles by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.
“These thoughtful articles provide guidance and direction for anyone touched by grief.”
Grief: General
These thoughtful articles provide guidance and direction for anyone touched by grief.
Helping Yourself with Grief
Someone you love has died. You are now faced with the difficult, but important, need to mourn. Mourning is the open expression of your thoughts and feelings regarding the death and the person who died. It is an essential part of healing. The following articles provide many practical suggestions to help you move toward healing in your unique grief journey.
- Helping Yourself Heal When Someone Dies
- Helping Yourself Heal When Your Child Dies
- Helping Yourself Heal When Your Spouse Dies
- Helping Yourself Heal When a Parent Dies
- Helping Yourself When a Baby Dies
- Helping Yourself Heal During the Holiday Season
- Helping Dispel 5 Common Myths About Grief
- Helping Yourself Live When You Are Seriously Ill
- Helping Yourself Live When You Are Dying
- Exploring the Uniqueness of Your Suicide Grief
- Healing Your Traumatized Heart: Seeking Safety, Understanding, and Peace Part 1
- Healing Your Traumatized Heart: Seeking Safety, Understanding, and Peace Part 2
- Healing Your Grieving Body: Physical Practices for Mourners
- The Spiritual Path to Healing: An Introduction
- The Spiritual Path to Healing: Mourning Ideas, Part 1
- The Spiritual Path to Healing: Mourning Ideas, Part 2
- The Spiritual Path to Healing: Mourning Ideas, Part 3
- The Spiritual Path to Healing: Mourning Ideas, Part 4
- Dispelling the Misconceptions About Suicide and Grief and Mourning
Helping Others with Grief
A friend has experienced the death of someone loved. How can you help? The following articles provide many practical suggestions for helping others with grief:
- Helping a Friend in Grief
- Helping a Man Who is Grieving
- Helping a Friend Who is Dying
- Helping a Friend Who is Seriously Ill
- Helping a Suicide Survivor Heal
- Helping a Homicide Survivor Heal
- Helping a Grandparent Who Is Grieving
- Helping a Grieving Friend in the Workplace
- Helping AIDS Survivors Heal
- Helping SIDS Survivors Heal
- Helping Your Family When a Member is Dying
- Helping Your Family When a Member is Seriously Ill
- Helping Your Family Cope When a Pet Dies
- Helping Children Cope with Grief
- Helping Teenagers Cope with Grief
- Helping Infants and Toddlers When Someone They Love Dies
- Helping Children with Funerals
- Helping Children Understand Cremation
- Helping a Child Who is Seriously Ill
- Helping a Child Who is Dying
- Helping Grieving Children at School
- Helping Bereaved Siblings Heal
- Helping Your Family Personalize the Funeral
- Helping Create a Meaningful Eulogy
- Ten Freedoms for Creating a Meaningful Funeral
- Why is the Funeral Ritual Important?
- It’s the Experience That Counts: Funeral Home Customer Service for Today’s Families
- And We Wonder Why People Question the Need for Funerals…
- Creating Excellence in Customer Service
- The Dirty Dozen of Customer Service
- E-Serving Families: How Your Website Should Help Your Customers
- Listening to (and Satisfying) the Never-Satisfied Customer
- Companioning the Bereaved: An Introduction
- Tenet 1: Companioning Principle
- Tenet 2: Companioning Principle
- The Awesome Power of “Telling The Story”: Why I’m Proud to be a Grief Counselor
- Caregiver as Gardener: A Parable
- Companioning vs. Treating: Beyond The Medical Model of Bereavement Caregiving
- Growing Through Grief: The Role of Support Groups
- Responding to Problems in the Support Group Setting
- The Bereavement Caregiver’s Self-Care Guidelines
For and About Grieving Children and Teenagers
Children and teenagers have special needs following the death of a friend or family member. The following articles provide wonderful insight in helping children and teens understand and express their grief.
Funerals, Memorials, Cremation and Related Topics
The days following the death of a loved one can be filled with sadness and confusion. The following articles can help you understand the importance of the rituals surrounding death.
For Funeral Directors
Effectively meeting the grief needs of customers in an increasingly impersonal world takes special effort on the part of professionals in the grief industry. The following articles are designed to help funeral directors gauge their own effectiveness and meet the challenges of serving customer needs.
For Hospices and Other Caregivers
Caregivers have special needs of their own. The following articles are designed to help caregivers take care of themselves as well as those who are suffering from loss.
Grief Resources
National Funeral Directors Association
Frequently Asked Questions about grief.
American Cancer Society
Support to cancer patients, family and friends.
Growth House
Discusses hospice care, dying with dignity, terminal illness, grief and bereavement.
Beyond Indigo: Death & Dying Grief Support
This site provides a wide range of grief related topics, a chat room, a message board, and links to related web sites.
GROWW.org
Message boards, resource listings and secure chat rooms for the grieving.
WidowNet
An information and support resource for, and by, widows and widowers.
Grief Resources For Parents
National SIDS and Infant Death Program Support Center
Provides research, education, and support for families dealing with SIDS.
Bereaved Parents USA
A nationwide organization designed to aid and support bereaved parents and their families.
The Compassionate Friends
Supports families who have experienced the death of a child.
SHARE Pregnancy & and Infant Loss Support
Provides support to those whose lives are touched by the tragic death of a baby through early pregnancy loss, stillbirth or newborn death.
Grief Resources For Children
Fernside Online
An online resource for grieving children.
The Dougy Center
The first center in the United States to provide peer support groups for grieving children. They provide support and training locally, nationally and internationally to individuals and organizations seeking to assist children in grief.
Links & Resources
Place your mouse over any of the various categories listed below to quickly get to one of our related links. You may also scroll down to the category of your choosing.
Foundations
American Foundation for Aids Research
http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html
American Hospice Foundation
http://www.americanhospice.org/
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
http://www.cff.org/home/
American Liver Foundation
http://www.liverfoundation.org/
National Kidney Foundation
http://www.kidney.org/
Funeral Service Foundation
http://www.fsef.org/index/index.htm
Hospice Foundation of America
http://www.hospicefoundation.org/
Make-A-Wish Foundation
http://www.wish.org/
American Arthritis Foundation
http://www.arthritis.org/
American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
National Grief Related Organizations
KIDSAID
http://www.kidsaid.com/
Mothers Agaisnt Drunk Drivers
http://www.madd.org/home/
Bereaved Parents of the USA
http://www.bereavedparentsusa.org/
The Comapssionate Friends
http://www.compassionatefriends.org/
SHARE Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support
http://www.nationalshare.org/
Salvation Army National Headquarters
http://www1.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf
Parents of Murdered Children
http://www.pomc.com/
Griefnet
http://www.griefnet.org/
Grief Healing
http://www.griefhealing.com/
Grief Resource Catalog
http://www.griefresourcescatalog.com/catalog/
The Dougy Center For Grieving Children and Families
http://www.dougy.org./
Pet Loss
http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/animatedjourneys/goodbyefriend/goodbye.asp
Pet Loss Support
http://www.pet-loss.net/
Pet Loss Grief Support at In Memory of Pets
http://www.in-memory-of-pets.com/
CARE Pet Loss Helpline
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/CARE/
A Journey Through Pet Loss
http://www.petlossaudio.com/
Coping With The Loss of a Pet
http://www.homevet.com/bonding/loss.html
Pet Hotlines
http://www.afn.org/%7Eafn26752/phone.html
Government Benefits
http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal
Centers for Medicare and Medical Services
http://www.medicare.gov/
Eulogy Writing Services
http://www.speech-writers.com/A//funerals.htm;jsessionid=8AC09C66CEC11F8FA1EF685277A99C7B
Tombstone Hearse
http://www.tombstonehearse.com/home.htm
Green Funerals
http://www.memorialecosystems.com/
Memorial Reflections
http://www.memorialreflections.com/
Social Security Administration
http://www.ssa.gov/
Arlington National Cemetery eligibility
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/eligib.htm
US Genweb
http://www.usgenweb.org/
US Vital Records
http://www.usavital.com/
Ellis Island Records
http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/
Census Finder
http://www.censusfinder.com/index.htm
Obituary Central
http://www.obitcentral.com/
Rootsweb Genealogy
http://www.rootsweb.com/
Family Search
http://www.familysearch.org/
