Emotional stress caused by job loss is the main topic at meetings.
AP/File photo The emotional aspect of job loss is an area not often considered when offering assistance for job loss, said Sandy Keiser, community education specialist for Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio.
By James Sprague, Contributing Writer Updated 8:47 PM Saturday, October 29, 2011
CINCINNATI — For individuals who have dealt with the loss of a job, it can be a stressful time not just financially, but emotionally.
To help people cope with the stresses, a nonprofit organization based in Cincinnati established the Job Loss Support Group. Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio, a nonprofit organization, launched the group in March 2010 to provide individuals the opportunity to share their experience and receive guidance.
The organization provides services to the 19 counties of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which includes Butler and Warren counties.
The emotional aspect is an area not often considered when offering assistance for job loss, said Sandy Keiser, community education specialist for CCSO and the group’s coordinator.
“There are a lot of feelings that happen and it becomes more challenging the longer it goes on,” Keiser said. “It can affect a person’s family, their self-esteem and how they define themselves.”
The group, which meets every two weeks at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in the Cincinnati suburb of Anderson Twp., gives individuals the opportunity to express those feelings, Keiser said. It is also the only group in the organization tailored to the emotional facet of job loss.
“It is a safe place where people can listen, share, feel, question, be accepted for who they are without worrying about what others might think, how they come across or needing to put ‘their best foot forward,’ ” Keiser said.
Among the gamut of emotions affected by job loss are an individual’s sense of security, social relationships and even religious beliefs, Keiser said.
“Whenever there is a loss of any kind, people need to grieve. It is a part of our life experience,” Keiser said. “We typically think of grieving when there is a relationship loss such as a death or divorce. However, we now know that there are many more losses that also need to be grieved ... job and income losses fall into that category.”
The support group offers assistance with that grieving and has received a positive reception from participants, which roughly number eight to nine people at each meeting, Keiser said.
“The people in the group just find it so relieving,” Keiser said. “It’s an outlet. They can just kind of be who they are and learn from one another.”
Despite being sponsored by a Catholic charity, the support group is not just for Catholics, Keiser said.
“We serve people of all faiths,” she said. “Sometimes people just come and need to tell their story about how they lost their job.”
Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 7820 Beechmont Ave., Anderson Twp.
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