TERM DATES 2024: Term 1: TBA | Term 2: TBA | Term 3: TBA | Term 4: TBA
The Teen Grief and Loss Support Program provides face-to-face support, education, connection, community and creative expression for young adults aged 12 to 18 living with loss and resulting grief. When teenagers are dealing with confusion, uncertainty, fear or a sense of isolation due to a significant life change or loss, we are here.
The program supports teens to understand that life involves change and that the resulting grief associated with their loss is also a dynamic process of adjustment to change. Participants gain a comprehensive understanding of what grief is, why it is they grieve, what they grieve for and the symptoms of grief.
We offer an inclusive environment where being around others who ‘just get it’, teens can come to understand that whilst each grief experience is unique to the individual, it also happens in the lives of others their age. With this peer sharing and support, their grief can be normalised and they no longer feel so isolated. The collaborative learning and assimilation of tools and strategies can provide an adjunct to managing mental health challenges, such as stress, anxiety, disempowerment and low self-esteem.
The teenage program is free of charge for attendees and offered for two hours each week, over five weeks of each school term. Each session will be facilitated onsite at our central Gold Coast venue. Over the course of the program teens will connect, collaborate and co-create becoming involved with both their inner work and outer work.
OUTER WORK
(self-expression)
Five weeks of creative expression utilising improvisation, voice, body and movement exercises, yoga poses, storytelling and culminating in an original group-devised performance.
Week six is the opportunity to perform a collaborative creation, for an invited audience.
INNER WORK
(education, tools and practices)
Five weeks of grief education, workbook exercises, individual journaling, self-enquiry, meditation, mindfulness and access to various tools, strategies and practices.
Registration Process
If you wish for your teen to take part in our Masterful Creators Program, please register via our online booking system. Once registered, one of our team will get in touch and talk it over with you before finalising your placement.
Please be aware that due to working within a small group setting, availability may be limited. Once you are offered a placement, we ask that you commit for the full duration of the program. If you think you will not be able to complete the program, please advise us so we can support another family. If all places are filled, you will go on our wait list for our next available intake.
The Teens Grief Support Program is delivered at no cost to you. If you wish to make a donation in support of our ongoing work, please use the ‘Pay what you want’ option upon booking.
If you would like more information, email us at team@paradisekids.au
We also have a Children’s Program available (7 – 11yrs) – click here for details.
2024 Intakes
Teens Grief Support Program
5 Wednesday Afternoons
Dates to be advised
4:00pm to 6:00pm
Program Location
Gold Coast
Cost: no cost, or donation accepted
So why creative inclusion?
Through the delivery of grief support programs for over 25 years, we have come to understand that unvoiced emotions and grief can result in individuals repressing what they see as ‘negative’ emotions such as; pretending, avoiding, denying … the antidote to repression is expression!
Including a creative component to align with the educational delivery in our teenage program is informed by the therapeutic effectiveness of creative play on mental well-being. This is an area that has long been researched and documented … allowing self-discovery in a safe place of expression. The act of play, improvisation and creative opportunities opens a doorway for organic offerings and for facilitating joyful, authentic, fun and playful interactions. Something that rarely happens elsewhere in many people’s lives.
The space of community theatre (performing for non-performers) has never been more important for our youth. They deserve a place where they can explore the creative aspects of their minds, where they can express their emotions without fear of rejection. Self-expression allows them to explore language and emotions, otherwise potentially not accessible by them. The space also allows for participation at whatever level they are comfortable with. We provide a platform for expression without aesthetic value or standards, where they can be themselves without judgment … something we need more of in today’s world.
The Paradise Kids programs and resources are based on psycho-education, it differs from therapy as we do not keep any transcripts or records of participants work for analysis. Our focus is on educating the individual so they may gain greater understanding and the development of life skills that they can assimilate and call upon when dealing with future experiences of change. We have access to experienced counsellors and psychologists on their team for referral, should the need arise.