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The Bereavement
Center of
Westchester
BCW
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"When we create a safe place for all of us to
be open and vulnerable, healing occurs." Unknown
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School Outreach Program
The School Outreach program developed as an outgrowth of our Tree House
program. We know that it is often too difficult for grieving families to make
their way to the Bereavement Center to take advantage of our services. The
School Outreach program is one way that we can reach out to those children and
teenagers who have experienced a loss but cannot come to us. It is also
directly meeting a compelling set of opportunities to help grieving youth and
to educate their peers and teachers about how to give support.
School and school friendships play a large part in young
people’s lives, and it is tremendously helpful for grieving students to feel
safe, supported and less lonely as they move through the normal, natural pain
of grief that often affects their work and social lives at school. We also
realize that this is sometimes an overwhelming and difficult task for school
personnel. Our goal is to offer assistance to schools in providing the guidance
and support necessary to deal effectively with issues of loss and grief among
students.
Services Available:
In-service education program
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what grief is (the natural and normal responses to loss) and why grieving
is an important, inevitable and lifelong learning process.
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children’s and teenagers’ understandings of and responses to grief
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grief at school: teachable moments especially within the context of school
life; how to help without taking time away from the curriculum
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teachers/staff as caregivers who deserve to process their own grieving
issues even as they attend to those of their students
Bereavement Support Groups for students
(led by our staff or co-led with school staff)
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8 to 10 weekly sessions in which students can share their losses and express
their feelings and concerns in a relaxed, mutually supportive atmosphere
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short term, smaller groups for students with shared, specific losses.
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Workshops for students on loss, grief and how to help themselves and others
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peer leadership training for students who have been a member of a Bereavement
Support Group and hope to help start and co-lead (with staff) support groups
within the school
Consultations
Resource materials
To request services or receive further information about the
School Outreach Program please call or write:
Jane Bradley Cameron,
M.A., M.Ed.
School Outreach Coordinator
Bereavement Center of Westchester
69 Main Street
Tuckahoe, New York 10707
(914) 961-2818 Ext. 308
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