W A L K I N G W I T H F A I T H T H R O U G H G R I E F & L O S S
Week One: Small group discussion (45 minutes)
Topic: The Experience of Grief
The purpose of this week’s session is to allow participants to meet each other, introduce themselves, share their loss stories, and begin building community
Primary goals:
- Create a safe environment for all participants
- Remind participants of the community guidelines
- Help participants connect with each other through sharing their grief experience
- Remind participants of the grief work they can do between sessions
Small Group Flow:
- Welcome everyone to the group and introduce yourself. Share your name, a few things about yourself including something memorable about you. Then invite others to introduce themselves, share a few personal things to get to know each other, and include something memorable.
- Quickly remind the group of the community guidelines.
- Share your loss story and invite others to share their story
- If time remains, ask any of the following questions:
- Where is your grief showing up right now?
- What is your greatest need right now relative to your grief?
- Which of the “You May Not Know” points did you most relate to?
- Thank everyone for participating, remind them about their optional homework, and end the session.
W A L K I N G W I T H F A I T H T H R O U G H G R I E F & L O S S
Week Two: Small group discussion (45 minutes)
Topic: The Work of Grief
The purpose of this week’s session is to add a few tools to the toolbox with regard to how a grieving person frames and processes their grief due to loss.
Primary goals:
- Maintain a safe environment for all participants
- Discuss the perspectives of grief, the elements of a healthy grieving journey, and the principle of replacement for addressing traumatic or sad images/memories
- Remind participants of the grief work they can do between sessions
- Remind We Grieve community members they can connect during sessions on their private FB page
Small Group Flow:
- Welcome everyone to the group and re-introduce yourself. Invite others to introduce themselves, and have any new members share their loss story after introducing themselves.
- Quickly remind the group of the community guidelines.
- Ask participants to check-in by sharing how the week was for them. You can ask for the high/low for the week, or anything that happened since last week related to their grief.
- Ask any of the following questions:
- Which of the 5 perspectives talked about in the large group session do you most relate to right now? Can you give some examples?
- Of the 8 elements of the grief journey which is easiest for you, and which is most difficult?
- Which thoughts, feelings or images do you struggle with most? How could the principle of replacement help you with unwanted thoughts, emotions, or images?
- Thank everyone for participating, remind them about their optional homework, and end the session.
W A L K I N G W I T H F A I T H T H R O U G H G R I E F & L O S S
Week Three: Small group discussion (45 minutes)
Topic: Understanding Grief
The purpose of this week’s session is to better understand the impact of grief on our daily lives, and specifically tools to help us grasp how suffering challenges our preconceived ideas of faith, fairness, and justice.
Primary goals:
- Maintain a safe environment for all participants
- Discuss loss of control, issues of faith, and the side effects of suffering
- Remind participants of the grief work they can do between sessions
- Remind We Grieve community members they can connect during sessions on their private FB page
Small Group Flow:
- Welcome everyone to the group. Invite participants to say hello and check-in by sharing how the week has been, and any grief issues that came up.
- Ask any of the following questions:
- Regarding the Control Exercise, what about your loss do you not control?
- What about your loss do you have a measure of control over?
- How has your loss affected your faith – your relationship with God?
- What are your thoughts of how Jesus reacted to the sisters of Lazarus from the Bible story?
- In what ways has this session changed your understanding of suffering?
- Respond to the statement, “Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional.”
- What are your biggest unanswered questions about grief & loss?
- Thank everyone for participating, remind them about their optional homework, and end the session.
W A L K I N G W I T H F A I T H T H R O U G H G R I E F & L O S S
Week Four: Small group discussion (45 minutes)
Topic: Grief & Resilience
The purpose of this week’s session is to learn how and why to take care of ourselves because our goal is healthy grieving.
Primary goals:
- Maintain a safe environment for all participants
- Discuss resilience and measure our own
- Discuss Domains of Resilience & Cognitive Distortions
- Introduce Circles of Influence exercise
- Remind participants of the value of joining the We Grieve community
Small Group Flow:
- Welcome everyone to the group. Invite participants to say hello and check-in by sharing how the week has been, and any grief issues that came up.
- Ask any of the following questions:
- If you had to give yourself a grade (A, B, C, D, F) regarding self-care, what grade would you give yourself and why?
- In what ways do you feel resilient, or not so resilient? Give examples…
- Which of the Domains of Resilience do you struggle with most, and which are you best at addressing? Give examples…
- Which cognitive distortion do you connect with most easily? Give examples…
- What do you expect to discover about your support network when you do your Circles of Influence exercise?
- What has been most helpful to your grief journey in this workshop?
- Thank everyone for participating, remind them of the value of joining the We Grieve Community, and how their group can continue to connect by joining the same private loss community.