People who’ve experienced the death of a loved one often face Thanksgiving and Christmas with anxiety and trepidation. But grieving people can find actionable strategies and encouragement to make it through the 2017 holiday season at GriefShare’s Surviving the Holidays seminar. This event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. in the lounge of Trinity Lutheran Church, 1629 Dewitt St., in Ellsworth.

“The main reason for this class is that the holidays are a tough time to go through while grieving the loss of a loved one,” said Trinity Lutheran Church Pastor Jon Rollefson. “The holidays can be a stressful time.”

The Surviving the Holidays seminar begins with a video presentation featuring advice from respected grief counselors and teachers on how to survive the holiday season, and presenting real-life stories of people who’ve experienced the challenges of the holiday season while grieving a death.

“This class gives practical information in regards to how to deal with loss over the holidays,” said Rollefson.

The video presentation offers practical suggestions on how to handle hard-hitting emotions during the holiday season, what to do about family traditions, how to scale back on activities and holiday preparations, and where to find the strength to go on. After the video is a facilitated small group discussion time where attendees discuss concepts learned on the video and share their specific concerns.

“It’s amazing how people in this class transform,” said Rollefson. “It’s a great class. I recommend it to anyone experiencing loss.”

Each seminar attendee receives a Survival Guide containing over 30 days of short, devotional readings that target specific concerns faced by grieving people. The guides also include helpful charts and articles to help attendees create a holiday plan and learn how to have a more manageable, healthy approach to the busy season.

“It does a great service for people who go through loss,” said Rollefson.

For more information about the class, contact facilitator Ryan Flaughs at (515) 971-7631 or email rkflaughs@globalccs.net.

GriefShare, a ministry of Church Initiative, Wake Forest, NC, is a network of over 11,000 churches equipped to offer grief recovery support groups. A searchable database of groups is found at www.griefshare.org.