Edenderry woman Caroline O’Driscoll is using “her own personal journey” through grief to set up a new Grief Support Group in the North Offaly town. Caroline has studied Psychotherapy and Counselling, and drawing on her own experiences with loss, she aims to provide “a safe space for people who are grieving to come together and receive necessary and valuable information that will help them through the painful process of grieving.”
In 2009, Caroline O’Driscoll’s 23-year-old son Keith died following a motorcycle accident in Edenderry. She also lost her father suddenly at the age of just 58 in the 1980s. “My personal journey has enhanced my ability to understand, accompany and support another human being in pain,” Caroline told InOffaly this week. “I honestly believe that without my training, resources and supports in my personal and professional world, I would not have been able to come through this loss in the way that I have,” she added.
“I found solace in looking forward and outward by focusing on my priorities and interests; finding joys in my life – but most of all by sharing with people who understood, and people who could be with me in the pain, without trying to fix me,” Caroline said. “I acquired support, and by focusing on the positives in my life, and honouring my son's memory and his life, I expressed my emptiness and pain. It can be very healing to express to others what you are going through.”
Caroline began an introductory course in counselling at a stage in her life when both her children were moving into their teenage years. She was finding it difficult to maintain the “good relationship” she shared with them in their younger years, and she wanted to understand herself more and stop taking everything in her life that went wrong, personally. “I had been parenting alone, after separating from my husband, for ten years and I struggled to understand and manage the feelings of deep sadness and loss I was experiencing,” Caroline explained.
At first, Caroline had no plans to practice in the world of counselling support, but as she developed her skills and resources to assist and support herself and potential clients, the goal of practicing became “more and more real.” “I hold a passion for accompanying people through difficult times and I have a desire to share my skills and resources at these particularly difficult times in their lives. I believe that we are social beings and we need one another to heal and grow,” she said. Caroline now holds a Diploma in Psychotherapy.
As part of Caroline’s new Grief Support Group, which will commence in February, the psychotherapist and counsellor aims to incorporate opportunities to do the following: Share your story and be a witness for others who are experiencing similar feelings, learn practical information to help you deal with your grief, learn about your daily reactions and responses to loss, practice techniques that help relieve stress and anxiety, learn about mindfulness and awareness, as well as simply having a cup of tea and a chat. “I want to find what works for you,” Caroline explained.
Caroline plans to run the group in eight weekly workshops at the Parish Centre in Edenderry on Saturday mornings from 10am-12:30pm. Each workshop is self-contained, meaning you do not have to attend all the meetings in sequence, and can begin and end attending at any stage. “You will find help and encouragement whenever you begin,” Caroline told us. Each session will cost just €10 per participant. Caroline will also offer follow-up support on a one-to-one basis as per the needs of the individual group member.A favourite quote of Caroline’s is “The point of power is always in the present moment” from Louise L. Hay.
You can contact Caroline on 0879089222, or at www.facebook.com/CarolineHealingIreland.
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