Wendt Center — Free Grief & Loss Peer Support Groups Washington, DC
The Wendt Center for Loss & Healing is the Greater Washington area’s primary nonprofit grief support center, offering a year-round roster of free and low-cost peer support groups for grieving children, teens, and adults. Whether the loss was a spouse or partner, parent, child, sibling, friend, or a death by suicide, violence, or illness, the Wendt Center runs an age-matched and loss-type-matched group designed for it.
What to Expect
Wendt Center runs the following recurring groups year-round: Adult Grief Support Group, Spouse/Partner Loss Support Group, Adult Suicide Bereavement Support Group, Mindfulness and Grief Group, Teen Grief Group (ages 14-18), Tween Grief Group (ages 11-13), and Children’s Grief Group (ages 7-10). Groups are led by trained Wendt Center clinicians alongside peer co-facilitators, follow a confidential peer support format with check-in and open sharing, and meet on recurring schedules with new cohorts entering throughout the year. Fees are sliding scale and never a barrier — financial assistance is available so cost is never a reason someone cannot attend.
Who This Group Is For
Children, teens, and adults in the Greater Washington DC area grieving the death of a loved one. Groups are organized by relationship and loss type so members are in a room with others walking similar grief, rather than navigating a generalist room where their story does not quite fit. The Suicide Bereavement group is for adults grieving a death by suicide; the Spouse/Partner Loss group is for adults grieving a romantic partner; the age-matched children/tween/teen groups bring young grievers together with peers their own age.
Why Peer Support Works
Grief researchers and grievers consistently report the same finding: being with others who get it is often the most useful intervention available. Specialty groups — suicide bereavement, spouse/partner loss, child grief — add another layer of fit, because the particulars of how someone died and the relationship lost shape grief in ways general bereavement groups cannot fully hold. The Wendt Center has been doing this work in DC for over four decades.
How to Join
To inquire about the next available group, intake conversation, or financial assistance, call the Wendt Center at (202) 624-0010. Information about all groups, age ranges, and current schedules is at wendtcenter.org. The Center is intentionally inclusive of DC’s diverse communities and welcomes grievers regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.