Author
- A Mills1
- Feel the Magic1
2018
Excerpt
Feel the Magic is an Australian not for profit organisation whose purpose is to create a world where children who are experiencing grief are supported to reach their full potential.
Grieving children who have experienced the death of someone they love can feel isolated and alone. They require ongoing support in developing strategies to cope with and move forward with their lives following a significant loss. The mission of Feel the Magic is to create environments where children who are experiencing grief can be inspired and empowered to succeed despite their loss. Feel the Magic runs Australia’s largest and leading grief education support program delivered during a 3-day camp, utilising specifically trained mentor and volunteer support. Camp Magic, is a safe place for grieving kids to grow by participating in sharing their story, learning about self-care and developing friendships with peers who understand. This program was launched in 2015 and is designed to support children and teenagers aged 7-17 who have lost a parent/s, sibling or legal guardian. Camp Magic follows a structured psychoeducational program, in addition to fun physical activities and resilience building challenges. Campers make connections with peers as they learn that they are not alone in their grief in a supportive and comforting environment. Feel the Magic began supporting grieving Australian families in 2014 by sending successful nominees on a Magic Journey to Disneyland. This program has provided families with a valued break from the challenges of everyday life following the loss of a significant loved one. It allows the changed family structure to reunite and create new, positive memories while honouring the memory of the loved one they have lost. As several families have received this experience, a compassionate and understanding community developed, allowing Feel the Magic the opportunity to extend its support and impact. Through these programs, children and families are encouraged to grow, develop resilience and share with others in similar circumstances. Feel the Magic aspires to instil the values of empathy, empowerment, growth and connection in the lives of families affected by grief.
Psycho-Educational program: Psychoeducation refers to the education offered to individuals are experiencing social-emotional changes, and a mental health condition. The aim is to help empower them and their families to deal with their grief in an optimal way. The goal of psychoeducation is to help people better understand and become accustomed to living with grief and life changes it creates. Teach individuals tools to cope with the changes grief brings and provide them with a therapeutic pathway where that can safely work through their emotions. This approach is considered to be an essential aspect of all therapy programs, as is supports individuals to make the necessary life adjustments after the death of a loved one. It is generally well known that individuals who have a thorough understanding of the challenges they are facing as well as knowledge of personal coping ability, internal and external resources, and their own areas of strength are often better able to address difficulties, feel more in control of the changing conditions, and have a greater internal capacity to work toward mental and emotional well-being. Feel the Magic Foundation’s focus is on providing children and their families with a forum where they can grow through their grief.
A life cycle approach to death and dying: Feel the Magic foundation uses the analogy of the season because it normalizes the cycle of life – death and renewal, provides visual evidence that things change and is a positive way to describe extreme emotions. The seasons analogy has a long history, in being used to describe the human condition in songs, poems and stories. It helps create an understanding and acceptance that death is part of life in a safe and meaningful way. Camp activities include theoretical approaches such as Niemeyers (2001) model of “Making meaning from loss” through story sharing providing explicit details of their grief journey. Activities also include a developmental and stage methodology to grief as suggested by John Bowlby and Collin Parkes (1982). William Worden’s, (2002) tasks for mourning are imbedded in the skills training and self-care approach to recovering for the death. Throughout sessions, discussions and activities include aspects of grievers moving between loss – orientation and restoration orientation, as described by Stroebe and Schut’s (2010) ”Duel Process Model of Grief’. The concept of growing around your grief, (Lois Tonkin, 2009), is reflected in the core values of the program and the philosophy taught of it’s ok to grieve and find happiness again.
Building a Grief language: There are no clinically or socially correct words to help a grieving person express how they feel. Feel the magic has compiled a word bank that grieving people use to describe how they are feeling at any given moment. The seasons analogy assists children align thoughts, feelings and actions while developing a language that best describes their situation and emotional state. Claude Stiener (2003) describes how building a language to specifically express the emotional state of a person empowers them to grow and develop resilience. Camp Magic’s mission is to assist children and youths to become emotionally literate people so that they recover from the loss.
Mentors and Volunteers: Mentors and volunteers form a vital part of the support team for grieving children and youths. The Mentors and volunteer’s role is to provide support, nurturing, advise, feedback and share life experiences with a camper. They are provided with an FTM designed training program that focuses on expectations around the core values and objectives, gaining an understanding of grief in context of it is a life process that we all experience at some stage in life. Mentors and volunteers are taken through a therapeutic process so that they could learn to understand their own grief and draw upon inner strength to model empathy; empower each other and campers; connect with others without parenting or counselling and support each other’s personal growth.
Future Directions: Since 2014 Feel the Magic has facilitated 10 camps, providing psycho-education and support for 500 children, Youths and their families as well as an estimate of 650 mentors, volunteers, and talk time leaders. Feel the Magic have established social media information, referral and support pages. Mentors and Families have developed friendships and support networks. Consumer feedback is leading Feel the Magic to develop clinical services, parent workshops and piloting camps outside of NSW in Regional centers and capital cities around Australia.
Grieving children who have experienced the death of someone they love can feel isolated and alone. They require ongoing support in developing strategies to cope with and move forward with their lives following a significant loss. The mission of Feel the Magic is to create environments where children who are experiencing grief can be inspired and empowered to succeed despite their loss. Feel the Magic runs Australia’s largest and leading grief education support program delivered during a 3-day camp, utilising specifically trained mentor and volunteer support. Camp Magic, is a safe place for grieving kids to grow by participating in sharing their story, learning about self-care and developing friendships with peers who understand. This program was launched in 2015 and is designed to support children and teenagers aged 7-17 who have lost a parent/s, sibling or legal guardian. Camp Magic follows a structured psychoeducational program, in addition to fun physical activities and resilience building challenges. Campers make connections with peers as they learn that they are not alone in their grief in a supportive and comforting environment. Feel the Magic began supporting grieving Australian families in 2014 by sending successful nominees on a Magic Journey to Disneyland. This program has provided families with a valued break from the challenges of everyday life following the loss of a significant loved one. It allows the changed family structure to reunite and create new, positive memories while honouring the memory of the loved one they have lost. As several families have received this experience, a compassionate and understanding community developed, allowing Feel the Magic the opportunity to extend its support and impact. Through these programs, children and families are encouraged to grow, develop resilience and share with others in similar circumstances. Feel the Magic aspires to instil the values of empathy, empowerment, growth and connection in the lives of families affected by grief.
Psycho-Educational program: Psychoeducation refers to the education offered to individuals are experiencing social-emotional changes, and a mental health condition. The aim is to help empower them and their families to deal with their grief in an optimal way. The goal of psychoeducation is to help people better understand and become accustomed to living with grief and life changes it creates. Teach individuals tools to cope with the changes grief brings and provide them with a therapeutic pathway where that can safely work through their emotions. This approach is considered to be an essential aspect of all therapy programs, as is supports individuals to make the necessary life adjustments after the death of a loved one. It is generally well known that individuals who have a thorough understanding of the challenges they are facing as well as knowledge of personal coping ability, internal and external resources, and their own areas of strength are often better able to address difficulties, feel more in control of the changing conditions, and have a greater internal capacity to work toward mental and emotional well-being. Feel the Magic Foundation’s focus is on providing children and their families with a forum where they can grow through their grief.
A life cycle approach to death and dying: Feel the Magic foundation uses the analogy of the season because it normalizes the cycle of life – death and renewal, provides visual evidence that things change and is a positive way to describe extreme emotions. The seasons analogy has a long history, in being used to describe the human condition in songs, poems and stories. It helps create an understanding and acceptance that death is part of life in a safe and meaningful way. Camp activities include theoretical approaches such as Niemeyers (2001) model of “Making meaning from loss” through story sharing providing explicit details of their grief journey. Activities also include a developmental and stage methodology to grief as suggested by John Bowlby and Collin Parkes (1982). William Worden’s, (2002) tasks for mourning are imbedded in the skills training and self-care approach to recovering for the death. Throughout sessions, discussions and activities include aspects of grievers moving between loss – orientation and restoration orientation, as described by Stroebe and Schut’s (2010) ”Duel Process Model of Grief’. The concept of growing around your grief, (Lois Tonkin, 2009), is reflected in the core values of the program and the philosophy taught of it’s ok to grieve and find happiness again.
Building a Grief language: There are no clinically or socially correct words to help a grieving person express how they feel. Feel the magic has compiled a word bank that grieving people use to describe how they are feeling at any given moment. The seasons analogy assists children align thoughts, feelings and actions while developing a language that best describes their situation and emotional state. Claude Stiener (2003) describes how building a language to specifically express the emotional state of a person empowers them to grow and develop resilience. Camp Magic’s mission is to assist children and youths to become emotionally literate people so that they recover from the loss.
Mentors and Volunteers: Mentors and volunteers form a vital part of the support team for grieving children and youths. The Mentors and volunteer’s role is to provide support, nurturing, advise, feedback and share life experiences with a camper. They are provided with an FTM designed training program that focuses on expectations around the core values and objectives, gaining an understanding of grief in context of it is a life process that we all experience at some stage in life. Mentors and volunteers are taken through a therapeutic process so that they could learn to understand their own grief and draw upon inner strength to model empathy; empower each other and campers; connect with others without parenting or counselling and support each other’s personal growth.
Future Directions: Since 2014 Feel the Magic has facilitated 10 camps, providing psycho-education and support for 500 children, Youths and their families as well as an estimate of 650 mentors, volunteers, and talk time leaders. Feel the Magic have established social media information, referral and support pages. Mentors and Families have developed friendships and support networks. Consumer feedback is leading Feel the Magic to develop clinical services, parent workshops and piloting camps outside of NSW in Regional centers and capital cities around Australia.