Harmony & Healing
Tween/Teen Family Grief Support Group
Harmony & Healing Summer 2026 is a community-focused program to support youth and families navigating grief through music and art therapy providing a structured yet expressive space for families to process their emotions together.
Format
We are aiming to gather around 6–10 youth participants (age range between 10–18) and family members over the age of 18 that would like to participate alongside (total group size about 20–25 participants).
We will meet for 6 sessions, 2 hours per meeting over a 6 week period.
Sessions will include whole group time with families meeting together and then separated time for the youth (ages 10–18) to gather as well as meeting time for parents, guardians, or other family members. Each group will have their own facilitation with overlapping themes.
All participants will engage in songwriting, musical improvisation, art-making, and collaborative projects to foster connection and healing. Families will have the opportunity to create their own personal song, lyrics for their loved one, grief, and memories.
Beyond the music and art focus of the sessions, there will also be facilitated support group bereavement conversations that will offer opportunity for sharing and counsellor led psych-education components.
Typical Session Flow
Outline of usual 2-hour session (with weekly variations)
- Opening circle & opening activities all together
- Experiential (primarily music-based) for youth
- Adults separate for talking / exploring similar themes as youth
- Closing activity altogether
Outdoor experiences will be incorporated due to our location being situated in a park and the summer weather (hopefully) allowing us to also be outdoors during our time together.
Meet the Facilitators
The group will be facilitated by Jenny and Kayla as well as two Hospice Volunteers (TBD).
Jenny Gilmour
Certified Music Therapist • MTA, BMT
Jenny (she/her) is a certified music therapist with experience in hospice and palliative care. She has a diploma in jazz voice and loves using singing and guitar in her work to help people connect, express themselves, and share meaningful moments through music.
Jenny works with people one-on-one at the bedside and also leads music gatherings and community grief events where people can come together through songs, stories, and creative expression. She also has experience supporting children and teens, including co-facilitating a child and family grief group last year. Jenny’s approach is gentle and welcoming, and she aims to create spaces where people can feel safe, heard, and supported.
Outside of work, Jenny loves songwriting, making music with friends (especially singing and playing her banjo), and spending time in nature. She also enjoys creative projects like sewing, beading and other crafts. Her favourite ice cream is milk chocolate from Earnest, and when she travelled to South Africa she even went skydiving!
Kayla Hochfelder
Registered Clinical Counsellor
Kayla (she/her) is a registered clinical counsellor and has worked in end-of-life care throughout her whole career. Prior to becoming a counsellor her love of art and writing drew her into the field of therapy through the door of the expressive arts, a multi-modal way of working with psycho-therapy that combines visual art, movement, music, drama based techniques, as well as ritual building.
Kayla works with individuals and families of all ages, from children to elders, supporting people through the many challenges of life and working alongside to create holistic change and healing. One of her favourite offerings is group-work, bringing together families in community settings and exploring and bridge-building support creatively together. She has been offering and facilitating different variations of the Family Grief Group and Children and Youth Grief Groups throughout her career. Kayla’s approach is always trauma informed and inclusive, working towards meeting the collective creation as well as drawing on the importance of our innate connection to the natural world.
Beyond the healing work Kayla provides as a counsellor, she is a mom of one tween and one child, enjoying exploring the Fraser River waterways and mountain forests of the lower mainland altogether. She finds herself buried in sketch books and covered in oil pastels in her free time, writing poetry, reading, gardening in her raised beds and baking bread. Oh and dancing and singing when nobody is watching/listening. Her favourite bubble tea is mango cube slush and back in the day she actually beat Tetris!
Getting There
We will be meeting at the Burrardview Community Room, below Cottage Hospice in Burrardview Park: 650 North Penticton Street.
Best parking option will be on Wall Street where the glass doors of the room are facing.
Accessibility
There are gravel paths through the park to the entry of the Community Room facing Wall Street. Bathrooms are accessible and located inside the room we will be using.
Accommodations can and will be made depending on need. These will be assessed during intake.
FAQs
All of our bereavement support services are for anyone grieving the death of a person in their lives. There is no specific relationship to this person that is needed to join this group, nor timeline of when the death occurred. If you and your family are grieving a death of someone in your lives at this time, you are welcome to participate in this group.
Our services are limited to the boundaries of the City of Vancouver. You will need to have a Vancouver address to join the group. If you are interested and live outside the area, please do inquire as we sometimes are able to extend the boundaries if we do not reach our maximum participants and/or we can provide options to other resources in your area.
Yes, it is an accessible space located in Burrardview Park.
No previous experience in music and art is needed for this group.
An interest in exploring and experiencing your grief through music and art would be helpful. We will provide a survey in the intake to gauge the full spectrum of your interest and experience and work towards co-creating a space together where the music and art is truly another way we can communicate, share and connect around our grief together.
As this group is intended to be co-created and the material covered will build on each other from week to week it is highly encouraged to join us for the full 6 sessions. We also know the many ongoing schedules and events for families and do understand if a session will have to be missed. Please do inform upon intake if you are aware of any sessions as a family you will need to miss. We are also aware sickness happens and we do not want anyone coming if they are ill. We will plan around those incidents of unexpected absences.
It will be most important for the youth involved in this group to attend all sessions. If family members joining the youth need to alternate or commit to less sessions, that can also be arranged.
No — this program is completely free.
How to Join
This offering is open to anyone that is a resident of the City of Vancouver.
For more information or to register, contact the counselling office at 604-737-7305 ext. 216