S etting by Luciano Sabatini PhD Challenges Facing N ewly B ereaved Students Living in a death p hobic s ociety Dealing with death illiterate adults Being sheltered from the truth ID: 459778
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Slide1
Bereavement Counseling in the School Setting
by Luciano Sabatini, Ph.D.Slide2
Challenges Facing Newly Bereaved Students
Living in a death
p
hobic
s
ociety
Dealing with death illiterate adults
Being sheltered from the truth
Lack of life experience in dealing with lossSlide3
Challenges Facing Counselors
Children & adolescents grieve differently than adults
Cultural differences in dealing with grief
Parental resistance especially in blended families
Adolescent need to fit in, not feel different
Uniqueness of grief, no template for grief
Slide4
Immediate Interventions: Assisting a Grieving Student
How do you prepare for a student’s return to school?Slide5
Planning for a Student’s Return
Using the child study team, develop a plan which includes:
Who will provide counseling for the student?
Who should know about the loss?
What accommodations should be made to school work?
What assistance do teachers and other staff need?
What communication is needed with the home?
Who will monitor student progress?
Slide6
Developing Sound Practicesand Procedures
Articulation within school and between schools on student’s loss
Notifying students when the death has occurred while in school
Remembering the anniversaries
Review practices that may be antiquated
Slide7
Long Term Interventions: Support Groups
Does your school use support groups to assist bereaved students?
What has been your experience with using such groups?Slide8
Preliminary Steps to Starting a Group
Notifying administration & getting support
Identifying students
Deciding on facilitators
Selecting a site for the group
Slide9
Solving the Logistics for a Group
Determining when to start, day of the week, and meeting pattern
Notifying teachers
Communicating with students
Interviewing students for the group
Obtaining parental permissionSlide10
The First Meeting of the
S
upport
G
roup
Introducing the facilitators
Student introductions
Nature of a support group
Establishing ground rules
Ice-breakers
Follow-up with students who did not attendSlide11
Subsequent meetings
Picture of the deceased family member
Review of week
Ice- breakers
Holiday concerns
Introduce concept of empowermentSlide12
After the Holidays
What did they learn that could help for next year
Review of the week
Student authored Ice breakers
Empowerment activities
“ teaching others how to help the bereaved”Slide13
Terminating the Group
When to end
Last Meeting
Setting goals for the future—reunion activity
F
eedback for future groups Slide14
Death of a Student
Has your school ever experienced this?
What was the school’s response?Slide15
Crisis Intervention
Assembling a crisis team
Identifying needs of students, staff, parents & community
Developing a plan to meet these needs
Implementing the plan
Daily meetings to assess plan and make changes where neededSlide16
Components of the Plan
Providing assistance to faculty
Communicating tragic news
Providing counseling & safe havens for students
Identifying and reaching out to students most impacted by the loss
Keeping the community organizations informed
Providing assistance during wake & funeral
Evening parent meeting
Slide17
Do’s and Don’ts
Do respect individual differences in grief.
Do maintain a routine and structure with allowances
Do allow for activities to memorialize the deceased
Don’t have large assemblies to discuss tragic news
Don’t force counseling on grieving students
Slide18
If you have questions or need additional information
Call: 516-799-5873
Email:
lousab@aol.com
Website
: www.empoweringthebereaved.com