Opinion Articles

SOUL MATTERS: Breaking the isolation and bringing hope
By Benita Tait

Our lives are constantly changing. For many individuals these changes are significant and often associated with loss. August 24 marks the beginning of Grief Awareness Week. Highlighted this year is the importance of Acknowledging Loss and Promoting Resilience when a person grieves.

Acknowledging a person’s loss and promoting resilience through supportive structures helps to break the isolation of grief and brings hope to those who are grieving. Although one of the hardest losses to bear is the loss of a loved one through death, there are many other losses that may be experienced as we deal with life’s changes.

Young people who are grieving have difficulty concentrating at school; they find themselves experiencing a range of emotions that can leave them confused and vulnerable. Often their losses remain unacknowledged, leaving them feeling alone and unsupported. Finding an acceptable and non-threatening way to discuss grief and loss is important.

Many schools and community organisations offer Seasons for Growth, an educational, small group, peer support program which focuses on managing change, loss and grief. It is a program that enhances resilience and offers a safe environment where participants are able to access information and develop communication and problem solving skills. These assist participants to deal with current and future change situations and the group process helps break the isolation of grieving alone.

Initially developed to assist children and young people, Seasons for Growth is now available for adults too. The seasons are a useful metaphor in the understanding of change and loss and in our personal experience of grief. We all experience the seasons, but our experiences can be different, therefore we can grieve together even though our losses are individual and unique. In the safety of a small group, grieving individuals have the opportunity to break their isolation, acknowledge their losses, enhance their resilience and regain hope in their lives.

The young people often write that they found out that ‘they were not the only ones’ grieving, and that ‘they were not to blame’. They find new friends, and discover ‘there are other people whose family has changed’.

One thirteen year old writes she learned that:

It’s OK to cry and it’s OK to share your problems with people……with the help and support of others in the Seasons program, they didn’t solve the problem…they made it a whole lot easier to accept.

Grief Awareness Week is a time to recognise the work of the Mary MacKillop Foundation. Young people who are suffering loss and grief tend to lack hope and purpose which affects their life skills and ability to respond to educational opportunities. The Foundation developed the Seasons for Growth program in 1995 and through this and many other projects it seeks to relieve the effects of physical, emotional and spiritual distress.

The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle supports the training and co-ordination of Seasons for Growth. Detailed information can be found at www.mn.catholic.org.au/diocesan/seasons.htm or email seasonsforgrowth@mn.catholic.org.au or phone 4961 0579.

Benita Tait co-ordinates Seasons for Growth programs in the Hunter region.

*This article was published in The Newcastle Herald, 25 August 2008