HOSPITAL PLANS SUPPORT GROUP GRIEVING HAVE CHANCE TO DISCUSS FEELINGS IN AS A THERAPEUTIC OUTLET.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- Based on years of experience, the Rev. Ron Hyrchuk understood what Tiger Woods was going through as he broke into tears after winning the British Open last weekend.

``In spite of millions of people watching, grief overwhelmed him,'' Hyrchuk said, recalling how Woods fell sobbing into the arms of his caddie after his first win since his father, Earl, died of cancer May 6. ``The reality just exploded in his face -- his father is gone. That captures the whole picture of grief. People feel like their world is coming apart.''

To help people cope with such grief, Hyrchuk -- Simi Valley Hospital's new director of spiritual care services -- will begin conducting a bereavement support group at the hospital next month for people who have recently experienced the death of loved ones.

``It can take a very, very long time for someone to get through their grief,'' said Hyrchuk, who knows from 10 years' experience at various hospitals in California that such groups can help people who are overwhelmed by their losses.

``I will hear people saying they feel like there is pressure in their chest and they can't breathe,'' he said.

Some say they can't function, that they keep forgetting things, that they just don't have the energy to get up in the morning.

``It is as if their body has been injected of this poison, grief,'' he said. ``As they tell their story, they release some of that poison, that pain.''

The Rev. Lewis Fry, pastor of Simi Valley United Methodist Church, said the new service is needed in the community, and that the clergy here will welcome it.

``It's the kind of thing all ministers like to be able to refer people to,'' he said. ``When a hospital is willing to provide that service, we certainly can make use of it at all of our churches. It is definitely something that helps the individual recover from that loss, and it helps the community.''

Alicia Gonzalez, a hospital spokeswoman, said she has lost a lot of loved ones over the years, and ``it's been very helpful to have this kind of setting where I can talk to someone about the loss. The memory will never, ever go away. We don't want to forget, and we never will forget.''

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

SUPPORT CENTER

The new bereavement support groups at Simi Valley Hospital, which will begin next month, are free, open to the public and will meet every Thursday starting Aug. 17 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Aspen Outpatient Center conference room, 2750 N. Sycamore Drive. For more information, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

SUPPORT CENTER (see text)