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January 2022
ERICSHOUSE
January Newsletter
Dear EricsHouse Community,

Welcome to January 2022! The New Year is a time to reflect and make new goals. In the upcoming year may we do our best to cultivate healthy habits and honor our loved ones everyday. A few ideas to memorialize your loved ones include lighting a candle, writing a letter, and making their favorite food. There is no timeline for grief. Everyone's journey feels, looks, and manifests differently. Take each day as it comes and remind yourself just how strong you are. It is our hope that this New Year can help release the pain of the past and create space for healing.


-EricsHouse
Connect With Us:
Letter From Our Founder
Marianne Gouveia
Ringing in the New Year

If you are like me, the new year always brings an opportunity for renewal. It is a time for cleaning out a cluttered drawer, eliminating those dusty items of clothing that have not been worn in years, or perhaps making a resolution to get healthy. But when you have lost someone dear to you, facing the new year can be overwhelming. The idea of living another year without your special person can create a tidal wave of emotions.

When you are grieving, making new year resolutions can be simply impossible, especially when we live to survive our loss one day at a time. When my son Eric died, I just could not imagine another year without him, and January 1st was always one of my worst days. As time has marched on, I learned that it is just another day in a painful journey. I learned to practice self-compassion, self-acceptance, and I learned to be my own best friend.

We cannot avoid our grief, put it in a box, or pretend it is not there. For many people, we must make our grief part of who we are, we learn to integrate the best we can, and we begin the process of self-discovery, who do we become and how do we remake our lives. Being mindful of our feelings and learning self-awareness can lead us to see the world in a different way, with a different lens. While all we really want is our loved one to come back to us, much good can come for our deepest sorrows.

One thing that I have learned is that we can give ourselves permission to create new traditions and practices that help us heal. Keeping a journal, practice gratitude, developing a meditation or prayer practice, and helping others are all things that can help us through difficult times. A dear colleague of mine, Reid Peterson, founder of The Grief Refuge, wrote a beautiful article about setting goals for grieving in the new year (click HERE for the link). I hope you take a moment to read it and reflect on those ideas that could be helpful for you.

I wish you all blessings for the coming year, I wish you peace and joy, and I wish you wisdom and love. Remember that you are not alone. The team at EricsHouse is always ready to support you whenever you need help.

Much Love,
Marianne Gouveia
Founder and Chairman
EricsHouse Inc.
Thank you Optum Pharmacy 801
for your generous donations!
EricsHouse could not do it without our amazing community partners!
Optum Pharmacy 801 is located in Phoenix, Arizona. This November the team at Optum came together and held a drive. It included essential items such as snacks, beverages, tissues, and paper towels. EricsHouse was lucky enough to be the chosen charity and recipient for the valuable donations. On behalf of everyone at EricsHouse, thank you for your kindness and generosity. Your donations help us support our beloved clients.
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Finding Your Way Through the Wilderness of Grief.
Upcoming Virtual Support Groups
in 2022!
Support Group for Men
WHY MEN NEED SURVIVOR’S SUPPORT GROUPS . . .                                  AND WHY THEY ARE RELUCTANT TO JOIN ONE

The masculine griever has a tough row to hoe. We first must acknowledge that, while it’s possible that we could get through great loss on our own, it’s more difficult to do it alone. The odds of success go way up with good support. We then must recognize and find our way past all the expectations society subjects us to: ‘men don’t cry’, ‘man-up, suck it up, move on . . . and get back to work’. Then we need to find a safe place, trusted companions, and a forum to express ourselves. 

When I try to articulate the benefits and support I’ve received from the guys who’ve joined me in the EricsHouse Men’s Group I come face to face with my own limitations. I found the following from Richard Rohr:

(W)hen you risk sharing what hurts the most in the presence of someone who will not invade you or abandon you, you can learn not to invade or abandon yourself. Even deeper down, when you risk sharing what hurts the most in the presence of someone who will not invade you or abandon you, you can discover within yourself . . . the pearl of great price, your invincible preciousness in the midst of your fragility.

Through humility and vulnerability, the true strength of being empowered, our manhood comes forth.

That manhood gives us the courage to face the most broken and lost places within ourselves, discovering through that acceptance the oceanic tender mercy that sustains us in that brokenness, so that by learning to be this way ourselves we can pass it on to others. We can be someone in whose presence it's safe to be vulnerable and to be open, and truly courageous and strong and powerful.

That’s why we do this.   

We are a new Men’s Groups this spring at EricsHouse:

Finding Our Way (Through Our Own Wilderness of Grief) – a closed group for up to 12 guys that will meet for 9 consecutive weeks in a virtual format. This group is designed for men on their personal grief journeys, struggling to accept the reality of their loss and learning to embrace their pain while remembering their lost loved one and moving toward the hope of new found meaning and purpose.

We’ve chosen a virtual forum for these groups because it allows us to reach men across North America . . . and because we’ve proven it can work very effectively in our existing groups. The groups will be facilitated by Greg Eckerman, cofounder of EricsHouse, a suicide loss survivor, and EricsHouse Grief Companion.

If you, or a man you know, are struggling with how to survive a loss to substance abuse, suicide, or sudden traumatic death please consider one of these Men’s Groups. Contact Greg Eckerman at greg@ericshouse.org or call 480-734-3423 for more information and to discuss whether these groups might be right for you.
Support Group for Mothers Who Have Lost a Child to Suicide
The loss of a child is an unspeakable trauma. When that death is caused by suicide, the pains becomes more complex. If you have lost a child to suicide, you are most likley experiencing the complicated grief that surrounds this loss. We experience feelings of shame, guilt, anger, blame, shock, and isolation that are difficult to understand. 

We kindly invite you to join our group. It is a small group that includes mothers who lost a child to suicide. All of the participants are working through a complicated set of emotions. Our groups provide a safe, intimate place to talk about your feelings and honor your loved one who passed. 

Meetings will be virtual. This support group meets biweekly on Tuesday at 6:00 PM MST. Sessions begin on January 18th and end on May 10th.

This group is co-facilitated by Marianne and Patty. Please email marianne@ericshouse.org or call 602-549-8932. to see if this is the right group for you. Pre-registration is required!
Support Group for Mothers Who Have Lost a Child
to Substance Abuse
If you have lost a child to alcohol or drugs, you are most likely experiencing the complicated grief that surrounds losing someone to substance abuse. Feelings of shame, stigma, guilt, anger, blame, shock, and isolation are all common feelings, yet they are so difficult to understand.  

We invite you to join our group. You will be part of a small group that includes other Mothers who have lost a child to substance loss. We may work through a complicated set of emotions in a supportive and comfortable environment.
Our groups provide a safe, intimate place to talk about your feelings of loss and to remember the one who passed.

Meetings will be virtual. This support group meets biweekly on Wednesday at 6:00 PM MST. Sessions begin on January 19th and end on May 11th. 

This group is co-facilitated by Charlotte and Diane. Please email charlotte@ericshouse.org to see if this is the right group for you. Pre-registration is required!
Support Group for Spouses Who Have Suddenly Lost Their Spouse
Sudden loss of a loved one is shocking and hard to process. If you have suddenly lost your spouse you are most likely experiencing complicated grief. This might cause you to feel extremely alone, disoriented, guilty, and overwhelmed. Our group is open to spouses who have experienced the traumatic and premature loss of their spouse. Sudden loss can mean anything from suicide, substance abuse, accident, homicide or illness. We kindly invite you to join our group. We may work through a complicated set of emotions in a supportive and comfortable environment. Our groups provide a safe, intimate place to talk about your feelings of loss and to remember the one who passed.


Meetings will be virtual. This support group meets biweekly on Monday at 6:00 PM MST. Sessions begin on February 28th and end on June 28th.


This group is co-facilitated by Kim and April. Please email Kim at kim@ericshouse.org. Pre-registration is required!
Conscious Grief Series:
Free Online Event Featuring
Marianne Gouveia
I am honored to be part of the Conscious Grief Series, an online event of interviews hosted by Tara Nash. The inspiration behind this is to see the benefits of grieving consciously. There are 20 other experts speaking on topics ranging from the grief in losing your child, your parents, siblings and husband to the grief in divorce, sexuality and pet loss. The show goes live on January 14th, it is going to be filled with incredible value exploring the deep and rich emotions of grief where transformation and growth can take place.
Join us for the Full Moon Labyrinth Walk. The moon is packed full of energy that is not to be missed. At EricsHouse, we are taking full advantage of this time and invite you to join us in a Labyrinth Walk with Gong. You will be guided to release your burdens and let go of anything that is holding you back as you begin your walk.

There is no charge for this event but you must register to attend.
EricsHouse Presents: The Tree of Life!
A Way to Honor Your Loved One.
The Tree of Life is a custom art installation, created by local artists to help us remember our loved ones. This unique exhibit is displayed in the center of the EricsHouse facility on a 7′ x 11′ birch panel.

Our Tree of Life will hold the names of people lost to suicide and substance abuse in the leaves on the tree. When you donate $100 in the name of your lost loved one, a personalized leaf will be placed on the tree as a lasting memorial. Only donations through the Tree of Life campaign will receive a leaf. Leaves may also be purchased for friends and family as a gift in their loved one’s honor.
Leaves available NOW!