(lively music) - Caring Connections provides evidence-based bereavement care to grieving persons in the Intermountain West through clinician-facilitated support groups, and a variety of services.

Here with more about this year's Grief and the Holidays event is Adrienne Bott.

Adrienne, thanks so much for being here.

We appreciate it.

- Yeah, thanks for having me.

- Now, Grief and the Holidays is something you've been doing for a while.

- Yes, yes.

So our program recognizes that the holidays can be a really challenging time for many people.

This is especially true for those who are grieving a more recent loss but it can also be difficult for many who are even, you know, years out from a death.

So we provide this program every November just kind of in the lead-up to what can be a difficult season for many, just as an evening of comfort and support for those who are able to join.

- That's great.

What does the event look like?

Is it like group therapy or do you have a speaker?

- Yeah, so we'll have a featured speaker this year.

Her name is Taryn Hiatt.

She is the director of the Utah Chapter for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

And so she will be sharing a little bit about the loss of her father many years ago and she'll also be sharing a bit on her approach to helping others as a way of honoring the memory of her father.

We'll also have a musical guest for the evening.

It's actually Peter Breinholt, which is exciting.

He's a bit of a Utah favorite and so he will also be performing a couple of songs throughout the evening.

And it's sure to bring a lift to those who are able to attend.

- What a nice thing to do.

I love that the nursing services is thinking about these mental health issues as well.

And why is this something that you care about?

- I just think, you know, as I mentioned before, it's a time when many people can kind of feel maybe a little bit isolated or not sure of what to do when they're having these heavy feelings during a season that's otherwise, you know, kind of happy and full of family and friends.

So I think this evening is really special.

It gives a lot of suggestions for coping with grief during the holiday season.

- Oh, that's wonderful.

Thank you so much for the work that you're doing.

- Thank you.

- If you'd like to learn more about the Grief and the Holidays event and attend it yourself, it takes place November 14th from 7 to 9 PM at the University of Utah College of Nursing.

You can learn more by visiting nursing.utah.edu/caring-connect.

I'm Laura Durham, thanks for watching "Contact."

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