Children's Bereavement Art Group Helps Kids Cope     04-09-2010

Andrew Duarte, seven years old, was acting up. He misbehaved in school and at home. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. His beloved grandmother, Judy Moon, had passed away two years earlier after a sudden diagnosis of lung cancer and a very short battle with the disease. Then, last year in June, his little sister, Faith, five years old, underwent major heart surgery to repair a heart condition. Sadly she passed away of complications from the surgery.

The two devastating events dramatically affected the little boy. He kept all his feelings bottled up inside not knowing how to express them. His mother, Shelly, recognized the problem. She scheduled Andrew with the Children’s Bereavement Art Group held at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospice.

The Children's Bereavement Art Group encourages children to express their grief through creative outlets. The kids can express what they are thinking and felling through a variety of art activities, including drawing and painting. The artwork becomes something tangible into which the children can put their feelings.

Two years earlier Duarte’s older children, Dominic, 12, Jessica, 10, and Lacy, 7, joined the Children’s Bereavement Art Group after their grandmother passed away. They were able to use the tools they learned from this art group a second time to cope with the death of their sister.

"It’s a great program for children," said Duarte. "The artwork they create opens up a conversation and you get to hear how the kids are feeling."

She says it’s also good for the children to be with other children who have gone through the same experience. In addition, the art therapists meet regularly with parents and provide pertinent information on how their kids are feeling.

"Andrew just shut down after Faith passed away," said Duarte. "But after going through the art program he’s become much more open and verbal. I’ve really seen a difference."

Each art group is facilitated by an art therapist with an extensive background in childhood grief. The art therapist is assisted by trained volunteers. The program helps children learn to cope with and accept the death of a loved one.

This year the Children’s Bereavement Art Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a creative outlet for children from ages 4 to 17 to express their grief over the loss of a loved one.

"Community support enables us to offer this valuable program to young people in our community," said Trish Caputo, R.N., LMFT, SAFH bereavement coordinator. "Over the past 25 years, we have served more than 9,000 children and teens in the Auburn, Roseville and Sacramento areas."

Duarte doesn’t know how the family would have gotten by without the help of the Children’s Bereavement Art Group. "As a parent when you are grieving it’s hard to remember everyone else because you are just trying to get through the day," she said. "But this program effectively allows the parent and child to identify their feelings of grief by opening up the lines of communication while enduring a devastating loss."