HELPING CHILDREN THROUGH GRIEF
AND LOSS (2 days)
As parents and caregivers, we care deeply about our children and youth. Yet sometimes we are uncertain about how to help them, particularly when they experience grief and loss. Some adults understand that this uncertainty reflects their own unresolved grief. Others so badly want their children to ‘just be children’ and not have to deal with trauma and loss. There is a sense that, by remaining silent, somehow we can create an invisible barrier around our children’s pain. Yet when given the opportunity, adults tell the stories of their own experiences of loss, and discover that these stories can contain the wisdom we need to support and guide our children through life’s dark passages.
In this workshop participants examine how the developmental stages of childhood determine how children and youth experience and express grief and how parents and caregivers can adjust their responses accordingly.
Other topics include:
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Children’s grief reactions: The many faces of grief
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Our Emotion-phobic world: Our intolerance of the dark emotions
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Mourning rituals: Cultural maps for the beginning of the grieving journey
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The needs of the caregiver
This workshop introduces participants to child development theory and relevant therapy practices. The emphasis is on learning through storytelling, art-based exercises and group reflection.
In a Sharing Circle each participant is both a learner and a teacher.
The facilitator’s knowledge of the material and presentation style adds such ease for learning and absorbing the material, the ideas, the stories….The workshop was an enriching experience, both personally and professionally. – Bev Levine, Day Care Director (Winnipeg, MB.)
It was my first time in this kind of workshop… hearing people talk about their feelings and traditional ways of healing. I thought I was the only one feeling this way inside. - Ernie Yellowback, Building Healthy Communities Worker (God’s River First Nation, ON.)