Waves is an eight week programme that aims to support adults aged 18 and older who have been bereaved by suicide.
For Waves group contacts in your region or please email [email protected]
The programme combines learning about suicide and bereavement, with group discussion and support. The group is facilitated by two trained facilitators over eight weeks and supports members to:
- meet and share with others who are also experiencing the impact of suicide
- explore aspects of their grief and reduce isolation and stigma associated with bereavement by suicide in a safe and supportive environment
- get information and strategies about how to care for themselves and others (including children and young people), after a suicide
- adjust to living with loss and moving forward.
Overview of sessions
Session 1: Introduction- Getting to know each other
- Negotiating the process
- Building trust and rapport
- Establishing values and safety
Session 2: Acknowledging the grief and loss
- Acknowledging and sharing aspects of grief
- Learning more about the grief process and different styles of grieving
- Learning about and sharing strategies for managing grief
Session 3: Emotional responses and coping
- Identifying, acknowledging and sharing emotions (i.e. anger, sadness, fear, guilt)
- Learning more about managing strong emotions
- Learning about and sharing health ways to express and manage emotions
Session 4: Cognitive responses, living with why and coping
- Identifying, acknowledging and sharing recurring thoughts (e.g. why???)
- Learning more about making sense of suicide and managing unhelpful thoughts
- Learning about and sharing healthy ways to express thoughts and manage thinking
Session 5: Social responses, impact and support
- Identifying, acknowledging and sharing how suicide has affected people and their family/whānau socially
- Learning more about the social impact of suicide, stigma and supporting others
- Learning more about and sharing ways to strengthen, repair and build new relationships
Session 6: Healing, remembering rituals and connections
- Identifying and sharing how people accommodate grief, adjust to loss and have begun to heal
- Learning more about rituals, ways of letting go of pain and holding on to memories and connections with loved ones.
- Sharing stories about loved ones and how people want to remember them
Session 7: Looking ahead, moving forward
- Identifying, acknowledging and sharing how grief and loss changes over time
- Learning more about stories of suffering, growth, and survivorship
- Learning more about and sharing ways people can stay hopeful and resilient going forward
Session 8: Closure, reflection and feedback
- Bring the group to a close, reflecting on experiences with others
- Collecting feedback to help the development of Waves
- Collecting a message of hope for other survivors