Video & Phone Counseling Available

When will I feel Happy?

It is hard to feel joy and happiness in the face of loss. Grief can make us feel isolated, confused, apprehensive and just downright UNHAPPY.

If you are struggling with an emotional stew and feel life is out of control, we can help! Our grief support groups provide a safe haven for understanding and healing as you share with other grievers in a supportive and confidential environment. Sign up today! There is no charge. Just call 205.870.8667. A pre-group interview is required for participation in our Parent/Sibling/Grandparent and Adult Child Loss Groups.

I’m Steve Sweatt, Clinical Director at CGS. As an experienced counselor and one who has suffered losses of family, I know how devastating the pain of grief can be. We struggle with our feelings but are reluctant to burden family and friends who are grieving in their own ways.

There is something YOU can do for yourself! I encourage you to join one of our support groups or consider grief counseling. We offer you a safe haven for healing and support as we companion you on the painful journey through loss.
Support groups have an amazing power to heal as members share together in a comfortable, supportive and confidential environment. Volunteers provide encouraging examples of survivorship and rekindle hope that we can once again love life.

There is no cost. If you are tired of struggling with your grief alone, help is available. Our support groups are either in session or starting soon. All you have to do is call 205-870-8667. Do it today – you’ll be glad you did!

How Can Counseling Help?
• Safe, confidential relationship to share your experiences of loss
• Release of emotional pain
• Growth in self-understanding
• Assistance in making good decisions which promote self-care and in mobilizing resources
• Addressing and resolving relational conflict
• Learning of coping skills
• Acquiring relevant, timely, and accurate information concerning loss survivorship
• Accessing support from fellow loss survivors
• Addressing spiritual concerns

Individual, couples and family grief counseling is available during normal working hours Monday – Friday to help adults with issues related to the loss of a loved one. There is no fee, but donations are welcomed and encouraged. Please call 205-870-8667 for an appointment.

CGS also serves individuals referred from The Amelia Center, The Crisis Center, and other local agencies, as well as from healthcare professionals, hospice and faith-based organizations.

Referrals are welcome from anyone who knows of someone in need of our help.

Prior to making a counseling appointment or registering for a support group with Community Grief Support, please consider the following:

While Community Grief Support provides crisis intervention service (including phone consultation) to current and former counselees and support group members, we do not provide this service to the public at large. We can normally schedule a counseling session for a prospective counselee within one to two weeks of request, and sometimes sooner. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please contact the Crisis Center of Central Alabama at 323-7777.

We ask that all counselees or prospective counselees, whenever possible, provide us with a minimum of twenty-four hours’ notice of cancellation so that appointment times can be made available to other loss survivors.

Our agency provides service to individuals contending with death-related loss. Because of limited staffing and resources, our agency is not equipped to provide individuals with the longer term counseling that is needed to address certain types of complicated grief – bereavement grief that is made more complex by the presence of multiple, additional stressors: acute and longstanding mental health concerns (including substance abuse), and depression and anxiety resulting from medical disability, chronic relationship, career and financial problems, early childhood traumas and losses, and the like. We can provide referral to other counseling providers for those individuals contending with complicated grief.