Seasons for Growth: Understanding Change, Grief and Loss

Seasons for Growth strengthens the emotional and mental well-being of those adapting to change, loss, and grief in their lives. By using the imagery of the seasons to describe and understand the experience of change participants learnt that change and loss are a part of life and they are not alone in dealing with the effects of these difficult experiences.

HBH Senior Living recently held a condensed Seasons for Growth session as part of their Relatively Speaking Series. This series explores similar topics in greater depth. The standard programme usually runs for 8 consecutive weeks, but for this special series, our facilitator, Candice Thum, will condense the key elements into a 4-week programme: 

• Session one (Tues 7th May) is themed in Autumn and aims to acknowledge the reality of the loss and change in participants’ lives.
• Session two (Tues 14th May) is themed in Winter where participants will learn about possible grief reactions and how we each experience these. We also honour the stories of change and loss during this session.
• Session three (Tues 21st May) is themed in Spring and focuses on living with hope. Participants will develop skills aimed at assisting them in processing grief.
• Session four (Tues 28th May) is themed in Summer and explores ways of letting go and moving on positively.

Change and grief affect everyone differently. It is the impact of the change, not the event itself, that Seasons for Growth focuses on. Please note that it is recommended that anyone affected by bereavement or significant life change wait 6 to 12 months before registering to participante in a Seasons for Growth Programme. The small group program is not one-on-one counseling.

Workshop Details
Speaker: Candice Thum, Coordinator for Seasons for Growth, Howick.
When: Tuesday 7th May, Tuesday 14th May, Tuesday 21st May, Tuesday 28th May.
Time: 10.30 am to 12.30 pm.
Venue: HBH Howick Views (139 Union Road, Howick). Meet at Rest Home Reception.
RSVP: Register below, or email Ninwa at co-ordinator@virtual-village-east.org.nz by 5 pm the night before the session. You only need to RSVP once to be registered for the whole series, otherwise please notify Ninwa as to what session(s) you can attend.