Kids discover coping with grief through games and fun so they can find peace — and relief — for when those stressful situations and heavy emotions resurface.
With the coronavirus pandemic shaking up our daily routines, those feelings can heighten and become even more prevalent for those who have loss — or experiencing it for the first time.
The healing many families are seeking is at the heart of Trustbridge’s first virtual grief camp, scheduled for Saturday.
“Grief counseling and grief camps provide a positive, unconditionally supportive environment, encouraging children to express their painful thoughts and feelings openly,” said Kellie Kintz, bereavement children’s program coordinator for Trustbridge hospice and home health services in West Palm Beach.
This virtual camp will include sessions with grief counselors, music therapists, a yoga instructor and a mindful family meal with a dietitian. The camp, which plans to serve 36 virtual campers ages 5 to 10, will end with a family session and group activity.
Campers and their families will receive Coping Skills Toolboxes and a Legacy/Memory Box to review and complete together. They also will receive future mailings with additional support and guidance. All supplies will be mailed to campers prior to camp. There is no cost to campers and their families. The Trustbridge Hospice Foundation financially supports the camps and programming.
“Increasing our community reach and the number of grieving children served in the current climate of COVID-19 challenges is our primary goal,” Kintz said. “Through the use of grief counseling techniques, our well-trained grief counselors are able to provide comfort, validation, insight, strength and guidance to our grieving children.”
Upcoming virtual grief camps are currently scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19 and Dec. 5. The programs will be held through the WebEx online platform.
Through its children’s programs, the Hospice Foundation also provides Palm Beach and Broward county residents individual and family grief counseling (currently via virtual sessions); in-school grief groups for children ages 5 to 17 (virtual sessions); and Parenting the Grieving Child support groups for parents (currently on hold because of COVID-19).
To make up for the obstacles created by the pandemic, Kintz and her team created videos to provide coping skills to grieving children and to residents of Palm Beach and Broward county communities. These videos are available on their Facebook and YouTube channel.
There’s also been a 216% growth in the number of grieving children served through the In-School Grief Group program from 2018 to 2019. In 2019, they held 30 in-school grief groups across Palm Beach and Broward counties, serving 174 children.
Erin Sinsley is a counselor at Osceola Creek Middle School in Loxahatchee. She’s seen the benefits of having Kintz and her team on campus.
“I’ve been able to participate in a few sessions, and I’ve seen first-hand how well the students respond to her, the skills she is teaching them, and the rapport that she is able to build in the small groups,” Sinsley said.
Sinsley believes the need for grief counseling will be greater in today’s tumultuous times.
“Humans need connection, especially in times of loss and struggle, and many students have been isolated from friends and family members for months,” Sinsley said. “Some may have even lost loved ones to COVID, and possibly haven’t been able to go through the traditional rituals of grieving that would normally take place. Grief counseling can help to process all of the emotions and experiences that arise with loss.”
Trustbridge’s In-School Grief Group program is one of 35 agencies that have partnered with the School Board of Palm Beach County to provide mental and behavioral health services to students through an on-site Caring First program.
Hillary Owens, an ESE teacher at South Olive Elementary in West Palm Beach, is also grateful for the support.
“Grief can make people feel extremely isolated, and for the children to see that there is a safe space to talk about it while also being surrounded with people who ‘get it,’ has been priceless,” Owens said. “When children’s emotional needs are being tended to, they are then afforded the opportunity to flourish in school.”
According to the Hospital Foundation, one in five children will experience the death of someone close to them by age 18, and seven in 10 teachers currently have at least one student in their classes who has lost a parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling or close friend. “Camp Stingray” and “Club Seahorse” will attempt to help these children with coping skills to manage their grief.
“By facilitating and role-modeling open and honest conversation, and providing insights and teaching coping skills to manage emotions, we walk beside grieving children and their families, aiming to build self-esteem, courage, resilience, and hope along their grief path,” Kintz said.
INTERESTED?
To initiate attendance at an upcoming grief camp, the child’s parent/legal guardian can visit trustbridge.com, print the child intake forms and submit via email to kkintz@trustbridge.com. Forms also are available via email by contacting the Bereavement Office at 561-227-5175.