VON Oxford’s Healing Hands helping children navigate grief with creativity

(Left to right) Healing Hands coordinator Angela Wildfong with facilitators Keisha Robinson and Karen Edwards. Abby Webster, absent from the photo, is another Healing Hands facilitator. (Emily Stewart Photo).

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

After recognizing a need for support programs for grieving children and youth, Victoria Order of Nurses (VON) Oxford is introducing a new program involving creativity as a way of processing grief.

VON Oxford began its Healing Hands grief support group for children and youth aged six to 17 years old, who will be in smaller groups based on age. Healing Hands provides learning, discussion, and creative expression opportunities for children as they navigate their grief.

Healing Hands came together with facilitator Keisha Robinson, a current student at King’s University College in London, Ont., working towards a double major in child and youth studies and thanatology. Her education makes her want to work with children who are grieving in some way or another.

“As I'm doing papers and essays and reading all of the things that I have to do for my education, it occurred to me that Oxford County and the surrounding areas are lacking child support for grief,” Robinson said.

One of Robinson’s courses outlined how arts and crafts and other creative activities help someone grieving. While on practicum at VON Sakura House, she approached Angela Wildfong, supportive care coordinator in bereavement services, about her vision for a program involving creative activities for children and youth to process their grief through education, discussion, and creative expression. Facilitators Karen Edwards and Abby Webster are also part of Healing Hands.

Robinson spent the last four months coming up with activities for the program. For example, the Growing Through Grief session, based on grief counsellor Lois Tonkins’ grief model, involves the children painting their own terracotta pots and putting in a baby succulent. Tonkins work demonstrates that while grief never goes away, life around it continues to grow, just like a plant outgrows its pot.

"I feel that a lot of grief can come out through expression when it's physical," Robinson said. "It's hard for children to sometimes get the words to describe how they're feeling, but it might come out better on paper or on a canvas, or just in the way that they express themselves artistically."

Wildfong said that those part of Healing Hands can come in monthly, compared to other children and youth programs run by VON where they have to be at all sessions in an eight-week program, for example.

"Sometimes, kids are really busy and they don't have time to commit to that, but if we're looking at once a month, they can do that and it offers a consistent outlet for them and a safe place for them to come in and address their grief,” Wildfong said.

Each session runs on the second, third, and fourth Monday of the month from 6 to 8 p.m. at Woodstock VON on 550 Ingersoll Ave. There’s a new theme every month beginning with understanding grief, followed by recognizing emotions, developing coping skills, building resilience, and learning to self-care with activities surrounding each theme.

It’s free to participate in Healing Hands but every child must be registered. To register, either call 519-539-1231 ext. 6299 or send an email to angela.wildfong@von.ca.