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Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE Date: THU 01/27/2005 Loss of son spurs creation of area facility / Kosoy, Levin offer comfort in a group setting By ARLENE NISSON LASSIN, Houston Chronicle Correspondent In more than 20 years of practice as a therapist, Marjorie Kosoy always believed she was a competent and compassionate practitioner, even to her patients suffering the loss of a loved one. But it was after she lost her own adult son Josh in 2002 that Kosoy felt an additional level of empathy to their experiences; and it was then that she decided to focus her practice on bereavement therapy. "I was dialoguing with my patients who had suffered a loss," Kosoy said. "But I didn't know what they went through. "Although I think I was a good listener and a good therapist, before my own son Josh died, I didn't really understand the impact of loss. I always thought I was a sensitive person, but now I listen to people differently. "His loss helped me to be more attuned to others and their pain and now I have another dimension of living in reaching out to other people." Kosoy and friend Sheryl Levin - a licensed professional counselor who had 12 years of experience as a therapist as well as a good deal of continuing education in grief counseling - decided that Houston needed a mental health facility to "guide those in mourning." The Red Bird Center, 6300 W. Loop South, Suite 240 in Bellaire, opened its doors in December with a mission to "provide assistance for those in mourning or suffering a loss in finding acceptance and unconditional caring." "It was at a three-day intensive treatment workshop for bereavement in Florida that I learned different signs and symbols for grief," Kosoy said. "The red bird is the most common symbol in bereavement literature, as well as in songs. It is also a Cherokee legend about the red bird being the child of the sun who died and came back as a red bird. "The weird thing is that I had cardinals in my back yard for the first time after my son passed away, and then they appeared again on his birthday. So it is part of our philosophy that everyone has a story, and they can tell it here in a very comforting non-denominational setting." One of the unique features of the center is the "emphasis-specific grief groups," where both women facilitate group therapy for people who are suffering from the same kind of loss. The group therapy lasts a set number of weeks, such as six to eight weeks, and each group is made up of survivors of the same kind of loss, such as losing a child or adults losing a parent. They are also considering forming other groups as well. "The groups allow people, who are all suffering the same thing such as the death of a child, to learn from each other, and to talk to each other," Levin said. "It is comforting to know there are others in the same situation, and people don't like burdening their friends. "But this is not just a support group, as we work in conjunction with other support groups and we encourage our clients to take part in them," Levin said. "We are experienced facilitators and can assess where people are and how to move them forward. There is a method for their progress and we help them accomplish moving through their stages of grief," she said. "So while we welcome and encourage their participation in any and all support groups as well, this is a therapeutic group." The groups are in addition to individual therapy offered by the women. They assess when their patients are ready to share in a group setting. "Everyone's grief is different, and we help take them on that journey in a safe place," Kosoy said. "Many are so fragile, they feel like they will just shatter, and not be able to hold themselves together. It may take a while until they are ready for group work. "Rather than letting them withdraw into their pain and just retreat, little by little, we help them put those pieces back together. We just want to guide them back to reconnecting, to living their life. "It may not be the same, and it may take weeks, months or years." Levin and Kosoy said they work well together, picking up on cues the other may have missed in group work, and consulting and learning from each other. Said Levin, "We understand that healing is a lifetime journey for survivors and our philosophy is to help the individual, while understanding that they will never be the same again, carry on despite their loss and get back into life in an adapted way." Red Bird Center understands loss, and offers a variety of services related to grief. |
