guide to support groups for parents/caregivers presenters: patti cox, czc employee jill fitzgerald,...
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Guide to Support Groups for Parents/Caregivers
Presenters:Patti Cox, CZC Employee
Jill FitzGerald, LCSW
About UsOur MissionComfort Zone provides grieving children with a voice, a place and a community in which to heal, grow and lead more fulfilling lives. Our VisionComfort Zone envisions a world where grieving children are not forgotten or left to grieve alone, and are supported by a wide community that understands and appreciates them. Comfort Zone Camp is the nation’s largest bereavement camp. Comfort Zone Camps are offered free of charge to children ages 7-17 who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver. The camps are held year-round in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia. Comfort Zone Camps create an environment where grieving children can have fun and break the isolation death often brings, while learning valuable coping skills for their daily lives.
Our Reach: Beyond Just CampDistance is Not an IssueComfort Zone Camp has hosted campers from 44 States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Our goal is to reach families in all 50 states. We believe in removing all barriers to camp, and assist with travel when necessary.
OnlineComfort Zone developed HelloGrief.org to start a discussion about the impact of loss and build a community of support for those living with loss. Hello Grief offers an online community where you can share and remember loved ones by creating interactive memorial walls, writing blog posts, and connecting in the forums. Hello Grief also posts weekly stories from people living with loss, and coping strategies provided by grief experts. Weekly Local Support Groups Comfort Zone also hosts support groups for adults and children throughout the year, providing a network of support for the whole family.
Support GroupsWe offer free grief support groups for adults and children ages 5 and up. The groups contain 8-10 members, with children gathered by age. The groups meet one hour and 15 minutes a week for six weeks. Comfort Zone Support Groups are facilitated by trained grief counselors, and are designed to: • provide a safe and separate place for children and adults to express their grief, emotions, fears, and concerns foster an age-appropriate understanding of the reality and circumstances of death • strengthen coping skills • boost self-esteem • reduce the feelings of isolation common in the grieving process. The child and adult support groups are held at the same time, so that the family can focus on their individual grief simultaneously.
Group Formation
Why a group? Need for validation/affirmation, power of universality; decrease sense of isolation
Size
Group Structure
Create sense of safety via guidelines Lay out the differences (loss, timing, type
of death – sudden vs. expected, etc) Less is more Wrap up is crucial! Use of rituals; allow
parents to own the group by bringing in materials-books, articles, poems, etc.
Group Structure
Create sense of safety via guidelines
Lay out the differences (loss, timing, type of death – sudden vs. expected, etc)
Less is more
Group Structure
Wrap up is crucial! Use of rituals; allow parents to own the group by bringing in materials-books, articles, poems, etc.
Pyschoeducational Component: “Knowledge is Power”
Work of Grief
”No less strenuous a task than digging a ditch”
T. Rando
Pyschoeducational Component: “Knowledge is Power”
Grief vs Trauma
Difference/similarities of grief & trauma
Pyschoeducational Component: “Knowledge is Power”
Discussion of Triggers What triggers do to create a resurgence of the grief response
Activities/Interventions
Showing pictures Ice breaker games “Have you Ever?” Choice Game Veteran Parent Panel Coping Strategies
Competition “The Things They Carried”
Exercise
Weekly Challenge Self Care Quiz Guided
Imagery/Affirmations- Belleruth Naparstek
Random Acts of Kindness Affirmation Activity with
Yarn – “Spider web” Music & Journaling Closing “pulse check” How to Know When You
Are Getting Better….
Pitfalls
Clients coming too early following a loss Isolation within the group Timing constraints
Give Descript or Example of Each
Pitfalls
Pacing Intensity level- potentially scaring other
group members Client’s monopolizing group time Watch your language!
Give Descript or Example of Each
Staying Connected/Follow-Up
Bibliography- recommend continued education about grief via books/articles
Success Stories
Video Clip of interviews with adults who have been in the program for awhile and have benefited from it will be embedded here on final version
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