Grief Spiral
Suggested Group(s): Middle/Teens
Purpose: To help teens understand the "spiral nature of grief" — Helping teens identify what those feelings and issues are and when they come around for them personally.
Task/need: Living on the grief spiral, receiving continued support
Activity Setup Ideas:
- Discuss the many difficult feelings that can come around repeatedly for many reasons: time of year, special holidays, memory triggers, and even growing up and reaching new levels of development and maturity.
- What are these difficult feelings/thoughts?
- What types of things trigger them?
Materials:
- Circular Construction paper
- Magic markers
Description: Talk about the grief spiral, have teens use the construction paper and their "spiral" to write out their own feelings, tough times to represent their own personal grief spiral.
In a square of paper, starting at the center, have the children draw a spiral to the outside of the paper (figure below.) Cut along the line drawn to form a continuous spiral. Punch a hole in the center of the spiral to use to attach string to hang from the ceiling. On the spiral, have the children add words indicating tough times and feelings on one side of the spiral, and comforting words and coping activities on the other side of the spiral.
Activity Wrap Up Ideas:
- Allow the group members to share their spirals, noting common themes about what people found to be tough.
Spiral Reminders
- Adaptation to living on the grief spiral activity. Have the group focus on the triggers that make them think of the person who died. Discuss as doing the activity.
