Seasons – New Program Launched
Our Counseling services are very happy to announce a new program called Seasons: Supporting Families through Serious Illness.
A serious illness impacts an entire family, changing the lives of children, parents, and loved ones. Such an illness can have serious consequences, disrupting existing lifestyles, relationships, and financial situations. Due to these additional stressors, parents can become less accessible to their children, while children struggle with how to cope to manage the crisis. Fear, anger, and remorse may overcome family members. At Seasons, we strive to assist each client in navigating the journey of a family member’s illness, providing support groups to assist in the coping and healing process.
From the point of diagnosis, Seasons is able to help children, teens, and adults cope with the changes that occur with serious illness. The treatment Seasons provides positively affects the entire family, improving the healing process and creating family unity. Separate weekly support groups, facilitated by licensed mental health clinicians, are offered for children and teens ages 5-18, adults living with illness, and caregivers in each family.
Support groups provide multiple opportunities for families, which include gaining support from others in a similar experience; learning and expanding coping skills; reducing patient stress; improving how a patient responds to treatment; and increasing communication within the family surrounding the illness.
Illnesses may include, but are not limited to: AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Cancer (all types), Closed Head Injury/Traumatic Brain Injury, Emphysema, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, and Parkinson’s Disease.
All Seasons’ support groups will be held at St. Casimir Church, located at 815 Sparrow Ave., Lansing, MI 48910. There is a cost associated with Seasons, however sliding scale fees are available for those families whose health insurance will not cover the services.
To begin healing today, schedule an appointment by contacting our Counseling Services at
(517) 323-4734 Ext. 1700, or visiting www.stvcc.org/Seasons.