Spring Break
Grief program looking to have long-term impact
Aundrea Eichman
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: News
In reaction to the significant amount of students who have experienced deaths in their families, Mental Health Services and a campus priest plan to continue what they say is a successful grief support group.
Laura Crawley, assistant dean of campus life for health promotion, said campus life has been looking to have a grief program for a while.
It is a group made up of students and "two folks with tremendous experience with grief, hope and loss," Crawley said.
The group's facilitators are Monica Kintigh, a psychologist at the Health Center, and the Rev. Charlie Calabrese, a Roman Catholic minister and director at the What About Remembering Me Place.
Kintigh said the group, which ran this semester for six weeks, started because there were more than 10 students who lost a parent between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2006.
"There were some people invited to attend that lost family members, and then we opened it up to the entire community," Kintigh said.
In this group, students may share experiences with each other and recognize their experiences may be a lot like others', Kintigh said.
She said for one session, students brought in pictures of people they lost and had the opportunity to share stories of loss.
"It's the first set of holidays students have to go through without their loved one ... The birthday celebrations and having to go through graduation that make it difficult," Kintigh said.
In the fall 2007 semester, Kintigh said she might have another ongoing group or also a retreat.
"It's really hard for college students to come to an ongoing group for six weeks," Kintigh said. "We tend to offer groups in a response to a perceived need."
There were, on average, about eight students at each weekly session, Kintigh said.
"The goal was to help students manage and cope with grief and find a place where they can feel supported and connected," Kintigh said.
Students need places where they can go to work with their grief, so they can put it aside to focus on school, Kintigh said.
Laura Crawley, assistant dean of campus life for health promotion, said campus life has been looking to have a grief program for a while.
It is a group made up of students and "two folks with tremendous experience with grief, hope and loss," Crawley said.
The group's facilitators are Monica Kintigh, a psychologist at the Health Center, and the Rev. Charlie Calabrese, a Roman Catholic minister and director at the What About Remembering Me Place.
Kintigh said the group, which ran this semester for six weeks, started because there were more than 10 students who lost a parent between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2006.
"There were some people invited to attend that lost family members, and then we opened it up to the entire community," Kintigh said.
In this group, students may share experiences with each other and recognize their experiences may be a lot like others', Kintigh said.
She said for one session, students brought in pictures of people they lost and had the opportunity to share stories of loss.
"It's the first set of holidays students have to go through without their loved one ... The birthday celebrations and having to go through graduation that make it difficult," Kintigh said.
In the fall 2007 semester, Kintigh said she might have another ongoing group or also a retreat.
"It's really hard for college students to come to an ongoing group for six weeks," Kintigh said. "We tend to offer groups in a response to a perceived need."
There were, on average, about eight students at each weekly session, Kintigh said.
"The goal was to help students manage and cope with grief and find a place where they can feel supported and connected," Kintigh said.
Students need places where they can go to work with their grief, so they can put it aside to focus on school, Kintigh said.
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