NEWS

New area drug-loss support group forms

Sara Nealeigh
Reporter

CHILLICOTHE — After losing her husband, Tracey Kemper-Hermann began looking for a grief counseling group that would be a good fit, looking around the area, she found close to nothing for those grieving the loss of a loved one due to substance use or addiction.

Rather than give up, Kemper-Hermann decided to start a group herself. Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing (GRASP), part of a national charter, will soon have a Ross County chapter, and be one of four groups in the state, according to the GRASP website.She said the lack of grief groups that cater to this specific population is due in part to the stigma that surrounds these types of deaths.

"The grief associated with this is a pretty quiet one," Kemper-Hermann said. “People look at is as they’re bad people, so you get - similar to suicide – there’s this kind of hush-hush sweep it under the rug so a lot of people aren’t allowed to grieve properly because of how their loved one died.”

On April 14, 2014, Kemper-Hermann's husband, Jason Hermann, 42, passed away of a multiple drug overdose.

For Kemper-Hermann and her 16-year-old daughter, Hermann's recovery was a large part of their lives. It only seemed natural, she said, that she begin reaching out to help others and share their experience. Which plays into another important part of the group; giving those who have lost a loved one strength and hope, while helping the community understand what she calls a “different kind of grief.”

She explained that she has heard it referred to as disenfranchised grief.

"Where your grief isn't as important as another because the person kind of brought it on themselves. and that whole idea is where the community lacks in education and lacks in awareness because it is a disease."

Kemper-Hermann said that in the last couple of months of work to bring the grief counseling group together, she has already received feedback from those who are welcoming the group, but not from who would be expected.

“A lot of people have reached out who have loved one who are still struggling, I've had more of that,” Kemper-Hermann said.

She said she saw the need for the group after seeing people grieving the loss of friends and family on social media.

“You can tell there is nowhere for them to go because there is such a stigma, and I’m very much about educating and taking that stigma away because there’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s a disease.”

Kemper-Hermann’s goal with the group is to allow those who have lost loved ones to have a safe place to openly grieve and help others feel they are not alone. With the help of a group facilitator and support from the national organization....

But her goals reach even further than helping those that come to the meetings. Kemper-Hermann hopes that she can expand into the other counties, even the schools.

“Once we started looking at it, and you figure for everybody that dies they have friends, and family, kids spouses, parents, and I mean, a lot of people don’t have a proper place to grieve because people don’t know what to say and don’t understand it,” Kemper-Hermann said. "Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction to kind of give people something where they can feel like they're not alone."

GRASP Southern Ohio Chapter

6 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month

167 W. Main Street

Contact: Tracey Kemper-Hermann

grasphelpohio@gmail.com or GRASP Southern Ohio Chapter on Facebook