Psych 110 meets Corrymeela

This week I have been able to make more connections to my psychology studies than ever before. I worked with four couples from Northern Ireland who have recently lost a child to a terminal illness. Some groups are hard because you're constantly running around or chasing wee ones or doing tons of organized games. This week was hard because they were emotionally draining. The first session on Saturday, they all talked about how they were dealing with their grief, how they dealt with others who thought that they should be "over it" by now, and the differences between partners' grief. People cried, couldn't talk, and had to leave the room. Mothers spoke about staying in bed all day and buying their dead children gifts when they went on vacations. Fathers cried because everyone else expects them to be tough and not cry over the loss of their little girl or little boy. Most of them had never met each other, but they were all connected by the same organization that provides care for terminally ill children and their families both before and after the child's death. Our hope is that after this weekend together they will reach out to each other for support. As was said several times this weekend, no one but a parent who has lost a child can tell them what to feel or that they know how they are feeling.
The workers who came with them from the support organization talked about the psychological theory behind the grief process. I actually remembered some of it from psych 110! Then I talked with the Corrymeela programme worker who also does reflexology work, and she spoke about doing paired imagery to help trauma victims of all types to learn how to help themselves handle stressful episodes, just like we talked about in abnormal psych. Amazing how you actually learn stuff at school, huh?!
I also met a few Americans this week who were around either on a residential or volunteering for the weekend. Nice people. Time for a toastie....