Although schools are making the effort to support students grieving the death of a loved one, there is a large population of grieving students who have experienced ambiguous loss from causes other than death and who may need support. Ambiguous loss or a loss without closure can leave a person searching for answers, thus complicating and delaying…

Background: Care staff are an important source of information and support for people with intellectual disabilities following bereavement. The purpose of this study was to explore staff perceptions of service users' conceptualizations of death, reactions to bereavement, required levels of support and staff confidence in providing post-bereavement…

On-line support groups provide an alternative to traditional support groups by linking grieving people who seek support, especially if support is not available in their local community. Furthermore, these groups can reduce the sense of isolation caused by geographical or physical/medical constraints and increase feelings of validations. Although…

A leader's manual and a participant's workbook for a bereavement support group program for children aged 5 to 15 are combined in this document. The leader's manual discusses the program's rationale and objectives; how to establish the group; facilities; leaders' responsibilities, characteristics, and time commitment; children's grief reactions and…

This paper describes a group counseling model for bereaved adolescents, which was designed to enhance awareness of grief issues among adolescents and to provide guidelines for addressing those needs in a group setting. The decision to develop a support group for bereaved students is reviewed and the steps taken by a Fairfax County, Virginia…

Derived from experience in conducting bereavement support groups with grieving children, this program offers direct advice and tools for creating a bereavement support group for children. The manual presents the format for establishing and conducting a Bereavement Support Group Program for Children. The leader manual gives step-by-step…

Presents model providing conceptual framework to help counselors assess client's resources for addressing psychosocial issues resulting from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Hypothesizes that four client resources (special characteristics, social supports, situation, and client characteristics) predict or moderate client's response to…

The newsletter offers perspectives on the provision of family support services for families with disabled members. An introductory article by Madeleine Will, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, stresses the impressive coping skills exhibited by many such families and their relationship to service professionals.…

First-year experiences in administration can color one's perceptions of the job, the career, and life goals. Ineffective socialization and assimilation during this period can also have serious consequences for staff, students, and community. This paper attempts to identify the significant issues, conflicts, and experiences occurring during the…

Based on the premise that health care providers and institutions have a professional obligation to help bereaved families, this booklet focuses on the role of health care professionals in lessening distress, helping prevent pathological outcomes, and assisting the bereaved toward a satisfactory outcome. The information provided in this guide is…

Describes a program at Rochester School District (Pennsylvania) that determines the needs of students with chronic attendance and tardiness problems and works with students, families, social service agencies, and alternative educational programs to resolve conflicts. Chronic offenders are identified, assessed individually, and referred to…

This report presents a workshop for counselors and psychologists who are at a high risk for burnout and compassion fatigue. The workshop focuses on increasing the awareness of participants about the issues of burnout and compassion fatigue, and highlights a number of steps toward prevention. A report, which accompanies the workshop documentation,…

This article discusses the benefits of support groups and networks for parents of premature and high-risk infants. Options for starting and maintaining groups are discussed, and a resource section lists self-help organizations, training materials, and reference works. (Author/PB)

This document notes that counselors are increasingly called upon to develop activities intended to prevent rather than remediate. It describes a model by which counselors can systematically develop, implement, and then evaluate a preventive intervention, and it suggests that the most beneficial approach is group planning with the involvement of…

The paper explores the impact of child variables, parent variables, and family resources (professional and informal supports) on the family's ability to cope with a child with special needs. Child variables include child gender, birth order, severity of handicap, degree of child dependency, extent of attachment, age of the child, and presence of…