aR Blog
You are not alone: a message from someone who’s been there
You are not alone: a message from someone who’s been there
If you are in emotional or spiritual pain after abortion, there are resources and options available to help you in your journey to renewed emotional and spiritual well-being. You are not alone in what you have been feeling, and you don’t need to be alone and isolated as you recover. As you reach out for assistance, you will discover a community of compassionate, experienced men and women who will be able to offer skillful and significant help. My prayers and encouragement are with you as you walk on this path of recovery. Others, including me, have walked it before you. We know that what once seemed impossible — peace, forgiveness, and restoration to a sense of wholeness — is indeed possible. However deep your trauma and your sense of pain and emotional turmoil, I encourage you to look forward to recovery with renewed hope and confidence.
– Leslie Graves (from: Elliot Institute: AfterAbortion.org – Fact Sheets & Healing: TheUnChoice.com)
aR Connection Support Meetings
Connect with other women who can say “me too”…Join us for aR (abortion recovery) Connection post-abortion healing support groups:
Columbus – 2nd Tuesday of each month – 7:00-8:00pm – April 10, 2018
PDHC 665 East Dublin Granville Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43229
3rd Wednesday of each month -9:30-10:30am – April 18, 2018
W.A.R.M. 150 Heatherdown Dr., Westerville, Ohio 43081
Lancaster, Athens Please call or text (614) 721-2100 for meeting location and time.
& Morrow County
Any other location
Please call or text (614) 721-2100 for a referral to a partner abortion recovery and care group.
These groups are for individuals who have a shared abortion experience to connect with each other and to discuss how they can find support. Connection groups provide a safe, confidential, compassionate and nonjudgmental place for individuals to begin the process of healing after abortion. Call or text (614) 721-2100 and visit www.OurChoiceOurVoice.org
Living in Color Groups beginning THIS WEEK
Call or text (614) 721-2100 or email CarolynK@PDHC.org for more info and to register. Space is still available in our evening healing group.
Living in Color is a post-abortion recovery and healing program designed for use by a small, facilitator-led support group. The small group meets once per week for 8 weeks and workbook is used as a therapeutic guide for the group.
Dr. Theresa Burke coined the phrase “forbidden grief” to describe the sadness and pain felt by many women following their abortion decision. This pain is seldom confined to the loss of a child: many also lose relationships, self-worth, and hope for the future. These losses must be grieved and, as with all grieving journeys, this involves processing emotional responses such as relief, denial, guilt, shame, depression, anger, and forgiveness. The post-abortive woman also needs to allow herself to “know” her child in order to say “goodbye for now.”
Having processed her grief, it is important to pay attention to what comes next. Many women discover that their healing journeys teach them many life lessons that contribute to the increased strength of character, wisdom, vision, and hope. The final chapter of the program celebrates the process of emerging from the “grey zone” of unresolved loss into a life of color, freedom, and joy.
For more helpful information about post-abortion healing, please visit our website