1. Announcements are made, information from monthly updates are passed along.
2. And for the sharing portion of the meeting, we allow each person to introduce themselves and give a 5 minute summary of their situation.  This may not be done each time, but is reported when there are newcomers to the group.  This encourages them to speak and also gives other members an opportunity to re-tell their story as often as they wish.  No one will ever be forced to speak if they prefer not to.  Even in silence one can receive much growth and change.

These are some of the topics in our meeting: Information sharing- What to do, when to do it, and where to go (victims rights)

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Guilt
4. Fear
5. Physical Distress
6. Loss of Innocence - for Children
7. Protective - you may get overprotective of others in your family
8. Loneliness
9. Depression
10. Abandonment - you may feel abandon by the victim or other family or friends
11. How to recognize anger
12. Feelings associated with anger
13. Constructive ways of alleviating anger
14. Positive and negative aspects of anger
15. New suggestions for handling anger
16. How others react to anger

What we want for families of murder victims is to be available and to provide support, crisis intervention, information, contact with similarly bereaved persons, communicate with professionals, be familiar with laws in our state, and have them speak to the survivors.  Sensitize society-at-large to the problems faced by survivors.