Wellbeing

Good afternoon families

St Mary’s Stormbirds Program program continued this week.

Stormbirds is built upon the theory of J. William Worden (1996, 2001, 2009), who suggests that adjusting to loss involves four ‘tasks’, which he refers to as ‘grief work’. The concept of ‘tasks’ frames grief as a process, not simply a reaction, which means the person needs to be actively engaged with the tasks. Worden suggests these four tasks are to:

accept the reality of loss
process the pain of grief
adjust to a changed world after the loss
find an enduring connection with what has been lost in the mist of embarking on a new life.

In the Stormbirds Program, Worden’s tasks have been adapted for use in educational settings. The choice of using this theory of grief is significant, as it suggests an active ‘I can’ rather than passive ‘if only’ experience. Hence the Stormbirds program provides participants with space to acknowledge the natural disaster, while learning ways to adapt to the change and loss they have observed and experienced as a result of this. (Adapted from Stormbirds Companion Manual)

During our second session together this week we integrated Worden’s second task (process the pain of grief) with the Stormbird Program by helping children recognise that their fear, sadness, or behavioral reactions are completely normal responses to traumatic events.

This week each child created a floating flower of feelings. In the centre of their flower they identified and wrote a feeling like sad, angry or frustrated. On each petal they had an opportunity to write positive actions they could take when they were feeling this way, for example, going for a bike ride, listening to music or talking to a trusted friend. You may like to try this activity at home with your child.

If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me.

Julie Cotter

julieann.cotter@smcastlemaine.catholic.edu.au