Teen Retreat 2014

     Each year I am amazed by the courage and creativity of the teens that participate in Camp Good Grief Teen Retreat.  This year all seven of them came ready to work, tell their story and support others.  The comfortable and intimate setting on the Mesa allowed the teens to appreciate the beauty of nature and provided a retreat from every-day concerns and pressures. 

     Teens have particular challenges when they are grieving.  They need their grief to be acknowledged by the larger community, by the adults around them.  They need to be able to communicate in their own unique voice.  Since peer relationships are very important to teens, working in a supportive group with a common goal is very helpful.  Older adolescents struggle with needing support and not wanting it; this ambivalence sometimes complicates the grief process.

     Many of their experiences in loss are beyond words; they are difficult to describe or express verbally.  Art–making and music give teens a different kind of voice, putting teens in greater control of their communication.   Non-verbal communication is often more comfortable than putting ambivalent feelings of grief to words.

       The teens attending retreat are usually open to working in a unique and creative way to cope with and commemorate their losses.  With a little encouragement, they used drumming, art-making, writing and working with horses to learn about grief, coping and to explore compassion and empathy.
       Participants were invited to represent aspects of self by altering or redesigning an everyday object – a matchbox.  Through the creative process, they explored symbols and words that transformed their box into a pocket shrine.   One theme, “Keep the Change”, included coins decorated to represent a change in them since the loss which they wanted to keep.  The process of altering the box allowed the teens to explore ideas and feelings on a concrete and tangible level.  Working with a variety of materials allowed them to access the sensory level where we store traumatic experiences.  They used their boxes to share about experiences with grief and empathy as well as support and compassion.
       Often teens can use the experience of a creating art to learn larger life lessons.   Each teen used writing to express a tribute to their special person or to list five words that describe them.  The rushing water of the creek and the tall aspens overhead provided an inspiring backdrop as several shared a poem or letter as they lit a candle in a simple memorial the teens designed for closing. 
      When we give teens the opportunity to approach and work through their grief expressively, we allow them to work on a level that makes sense to them. We acknowledge and support their grief in a way that can be understood on many levels and can be witnessed by others.

Riley, S. (1999).  Contemporary Art Therapy with Adolescents.   London, Jessica Kingsley    

     Publishers.

For more information on art therapy visit:

American Art Therapy Association at http://www.arttherapy.org,
Art Therapy association of Colorado at http://www.arttherapy-co.org/ataco
ArtLight Therapy & Studios at http://www.artlighttherapyandstudios.com