Classic Program: Starter Facilitator Handbook for Healing Groups

Lesson 3 Section Sub points

LG: Job: read the summary aloud. Discussion Question: “What things did Job’s comforters do or say that were helpful? What things did they do or say that were not helpful?” (5 min) SG: Discussion Question: “When you have been mourning the loss of someone, what sort of helpful things have people done or said? What sort of unhelpful things have been done or said?” Have some groups discuss what was helpful, and others discuss what was unhelpful. (10 min)

5. How can we help … ? (25 min)

LG: Feedback; add anything not mentioned from Section 5B. (10 min)

Grief journey exercise Arrange with two people privately, ahead of time, to do the “false bridge” (below). Divide the rest of the group into four parts by numbering off. Have them stand in groups, with one person holding the sign for their “village” (or “camp”): Village of Denial and Anger, Village of No Hope, and Village of New Beginnings. (Alternatively, if you have too many people, have just one person hold each sign and four volunteers move through the villages.) With the fourth group, go to each village one by one. Ask the people in that village how a person feels at that stage in the grief process. Top up their responses with anything they don’t say from the list below. Explain that the behavior is normal in each village as a person goes from crisis to recovery. Village 1: Denial and Anger (1 month or longer) • numb • not aware of what is happening around them • can’t believe the person has died or the event happened • may suddenly start to cry or erupt in anger • may be angry with God • may be angry with a person who has died, for leaving them alone • may feel, “If only I had done this or that, the person wouldn’t have died” or “I wish I had . . .”

• may feel, “Why did this happen to me?” • may find someone to blame for the death

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Classic Program Facilitator Handbook