Peer Support Groups
At Judi’s House, children meet in age appropriate groups (preschool, elementary, middle school, and teens). A mental health professional and trained volunteers facilitate each children’s group, but they do not counsel. Children lead each other in their grief process through peer support. At Judi’s House, children talk about their feelings, express themselves through art, music and puppetry, vent their emotions in the Energy Room, or create new worlds that reflect unspoken stories in the Sand Tray Room. We have four types of groups (descriptions follow) and the individual child/teenager decides how long they want to continue attending group. An adult caregiver must remain onsite while their children are in a group and they have the option of meeting with other parents in their own support group. Here they have the opportunity to discuss their own grief and learn about grief so that they understand their children's behavior better.Pathfinder Groups
We recommend that all families begin their participation with Judi's House in Pathfinder Groups. This helps initiate children and their care-givers to the grief support work done at Judi’s House. The time-limited groups are a nine-week (weekly) series. The Pathfinder program is more psycho-educationally directed. Families and children learn about grief and explore different coping mechanisms. At the completion of the series of groups, all of the families have the option of continuing at Judi’s House in an ongoing group.
Ongoing Groups
The first groups started at Judi’s House were based on a model developed by The Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon (recognized as a leader in the field of children’s grief support). In ongoing groups, the children/teenagers meet in age appropriate groups every other week. And, as stated previously, each child/teenager can continue attending ongoing groups for however long they want and their adult caregivers have the option of participating in their own support group.
Spanish-Speaking Groups
The Judi’s House Spanish-speaking group is similar to the ongoing groups, except that the children/teenagers and adult caregivers are not separated. The Spanish-speaking group is modest compared to the English-speaking groups at Judi’s House. However, our outreach to the Latino community continues and is starting to indicate a strong increased awareness about the availability of Spanish-speaking services at Judi’s House.
School Groups
Schools are and have always been our biggest referral source, so we stay connected to them by offering trainings on children’s grief support in schools. Click here to be directed to the Outreach page for more information.