Hopwood Hope’s grief recovery program

A group of Hopwood Jr. High School students recently (June 13, 2000) completed a special Grief Recovery Outreach Program as a part of a PSS sponsored “Hopwood Hope” pilot project.

“We all suffer loss and grief regardless of age,” according to Brian Farley, a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist. “ Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to resolve our feelings, and bury them inside—sometimes for a lifetime. And this long term grief can cause long term problems.”

It was Farley’s first time to conduct a class for 12-15 year olds,” I was really impressed with the way these young people handled themselves and got into the program. They developed a bond and a group identity. Every session we all take oaths of honesty, confidentiality, and the individuality of each person’s feelings of grief. All of us shared our personal experiences, which is an important part of the grief recovery process—grievers tend to isolate themselves, when what they really need is participation with others.”

“I am hopeful that the successful outcome of this program will lead to more Grief Recovery programs for young people in the future,” he said.

Loss is not only related to death, he explained, but also divorce, and 40 other kinds of losses experienced in a lifetime, including moving to a new home, loss of a job, abuse, loss of trust and security. The program ends with writing a “completion” letter about the loss and reading it to the group.

“We use the Grief Recovery Handbook” co-written by the founder and executive director of the Grief Recovery Institute, a public non-profit educational corporation in Los Angeles.
“I was especially thankful to Commissioner Inos, Mrs. Mendiola and her staff, DYS Director Eloise Fury, and Community Guidance Center Director Josephine Sablan for their cooperation and support,” Farley said.

The students chose to go on a field trip to the DYS Detention Facility at Kagman. They stayed for a two hour orientation conducted by Director Rudy Pua and his staff. While there, one of the detainees volunteered to meet with the group and explain about the facility. After the visit, the students and HJHS staff had lunch at Pizza Hut.

The purpose of the “Hope” program is to set up a collaboration between agencies in the CNMI to provide assistance to students in the schools in areas like Anger Management, Substance Abuse, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Feelings, and Grief Recovery with a team approach.

Named “Hopwood Hope”, meetings and planning for the program began last September at Hopwood, at the initiative of PSS Commissioner Rita H. Inos. Planning involved Principal Mendiola and Vice Principal Dela Cruz, HJH school counselors, and representatives from Public Health, DYS, CGC, and PSS.

There were 11 participants in the program, including Seventh Grade Counselor Naryani Sikyang. Students had parental permission to join the group which met on Tuesdays and Fridays during second period from February 2nd to June 13th.

Brian Farley, received his Certified Grief Recovery Specialist certification last July after attending an Institute certification seminar in Denver, Colorado.