Loss &
Trauma Counselling
The Epiphany Trust, with two of its UK partners, Hands Across
the Sea and Jigsaw 4U, has been running a programme to train
Sri Lankan social workers, health professionals and teachers
in how to enable bereaved children to cope with the trauma and
loss they have suffered.
Through
the work of many charities and organisations since the 2004
Boxing Day tsunami many people have been able to start physically
rebuilding their lives in Sri Lanka. But even though houses
have been re-built and businesses re-started, the attempts to
address the emotional issues are still just scratching the surface.
People have to somehow come to terms with the fact that they
have lost a whole working lifetime’s worth of acquisition,
have lost family and friends, have lost the life that they once
had.
To help deal with these debilitating scars teams of people
have been travelling out for three-week visits to Sri Lanka,
led by experienced trauma counsellor Anne Davis. The groups
often included people who have themselves been bereaved. The
previous devastating loss suffered by the young people in the
team has allowed them to communicate from their own experience
and help both children and adults more effectively cope with
their grief. Art & crafts, sport, discussions, testimonies
and games are all used as tools through the sessions held in
community halls, in people's homes and on the beach.
Using
a rotation system, it is hoped that there will be a constant
presence from the Jigsaw 4U counsellors who will simultaneously
be training some of Epiphany’s current partners in order
to ensure maximum effect of the project on a daily basis and
for many years to come.
Sturat MacPherson was part of the first of these visits. To
read his report click here
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