Tag Archives: loss

The Loss of a Child

Posted by: Asa Don Brown on October 7, 2014 12:55 pm

“To lose a child is to lose a piece of yourself.”  ~ Dr. Burton Grebin

child lossThere is no greater grief, than when a parent losses a child. As a person, I had never truly experienced such a gut-wrenching heartache, until the day that my wife and I lost a child. As a therapist, some may think that I am trained to have “all the known answers,” but the truth is, there are no answers, quick fixes, or remedies to mend the heartbreak around the loss of a child.

The loss of a child is an inconceivable and it is an unimaginable experience. While my wife and I never had an opportunity to get to know our child by physical touch, perception, or smell; we had already bonded with our developing child.

MY DAUGHTER’S HEARTACHE

The day that we were told that our child had passed on, was the most egregious experience of my life. On this very day, not only had I lost my child, but my precious and tendered hearted Delilah experienced the loss of a sibling. At the time, my daughter was a mere 5 years of age, but her cry and her mournful spirit penetrated the very nature of my being. At that moment, I recognized not only the impact that this loss had on myself, my loving wife, but the dire impact that it had on my precious daughter. For me, the loss was like an ocean of emotions consuming my person, but it was further deepened by witnessing the breach of my daughter’s innocence. Furthermore, it was the tenderness of my daughter’s cry that pierced my heart and my soul. It was like I had experienced yet a second loss, a loss of my precious daughter’s innocence and my inability to protect her from harm that broke my spirit.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Will This Grief Ever End…?

Posted by: Priya Senroy on September 6, 2012 3:22 pm

Dear readers…..
I am digressing this month from sharing about what’s happening in the filed on creative arts in counselling in other parts of the world to sharing some recent experiences that I have been dealing with at work.
It seems that one fourth of my clients are dealing with grief and loss issues at some level .Its either directed linked to them or somebody they know.
I have been supporting children, families, caregivers, grandparents to process the feelings of transition, endings and closures in my counseling sessions and wanted to share some of the activities that I have found to be useful when talking hasn’t helped…….
Most of these are that what I have been taught, have read or have researched and modified to suit the particular client, depending on their ages and stages of grief.
Some of my trial and tested ones include:
Creating a grief or memory collage to a favorite music listened to by the person.
Creating a family tree painting using the handprints of family members as the leaves with wishes for each other.
Developing messages in art (if you could create a message for your special person using art as a form of expression, what would you want to communicate?).
Making a  paper boat with messages for the person who has passed and sailing it in open water.
Using T-Shirts and other paraphernalia bearing the picture and facts about the deceased, to symbolize the life and death of their loved ones. 

I found these to be self reflective as well as helping in the grieving process so if anybody finds anyway to modify and use them……please do so.

By: Priya Senroy




*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA