Art with Heart: A Complete Grief Group Counseling Program (Art Therapy)

The death of a parent or loved one can be a traumatic event in the life of a child. Art allows children the opportunity for creative expression, and the ability to communicate without using words. Through this group program, students will learn what grief and loss means, identify and discuss feelings, identify positive support systems, talk about their loss, discuss changes they are dealing with, remember their loved one in a positive way, and identify coping skills and strategies all while expressing themselves creatively and therapeutically through art. This 8-10 session group program can be offered to students from Grades 3-12 (although I recommend grouping students together with same age peers). The session design is meant to be as simple and easy as possible. Each session contains an outline with the topic, artwork/activities, materials needed, an example of the artwork, procedures, and discussion questions/prompts. Additional materials included in this file are: the "tasks" of grief, permission form, group rules/guidelines, the Emotions Color Wheel template, evaluation form, and more.