When tragedy strikes, we often hear about the first responders. But another group of professionals step in to help those who’ve experienced loss heal over the long term.
Cara Mearns-Thompson is the clinical director and co-founder of The Grief Club of Minnesota. Along with running operations, Mearns-Thompson still actively sees clients and works regularly as a grief counselor. When she and her co-founder Sarah Kroenke first started, they were in a tiny single room office.
“I would wait in my car until she was finished, and then I would come back and see my client,” Mearns-Thompson said.
Now their offices sit on more than a four acres of prairie in Chanhassen with three full-time therapists and three who work part-time. Mearns-Thompson says they anticipate they’ll have reached 4,000 visits by the end of 2024, a ten-fold increase from their first year.
