Resources for grief and loss

Bereaved Mother’s Heart

By Carla van Laar
Art Therapists, Grief and Loss Counsellors, Social Workers and anyone wanting to explore grief from a creative perspective, this deeply moving, but ultimately uplifting visual and written journal follows the psychological and emotional journey of Carla van Laar after the death of her three-year-old son, Vaughn. The [...]

Jelly Bean’s Secret

Teachers, Grief and Loss Counsellors, Social Workers, Parents and Psychologists: this novella for primary school-aged children is a sensitive yet frank story through which young readers will learn about dying and the rituals and feelings that accompany this inevitable time. Be inspired by Abby and her brother Zac who love their [...]

Seven Dying Australians

By Allan Kellehear and David Ritchie
Grief and Loss Counsellors, Social Work Educators, Teachers and anyone in need of a reality check: here is a brave, insightful and–believe it or not–lively opportunity to enter the experiences of seven people who know they are dying. This inspiring collection is based on interviews with seven Australians who are [...]

Shadows and Deeper Shadows

Psychologists, social workers, counsellors and adult educators will find this powerful set of watercolour images can invite their clients or students to reflect on their experiences and explore the meaning of ’shadows’ in their lives.
This resource acknowledges that pain and suffering (such as grief, loneliness, depression, loss and violence) often [...]

Signposts

Chaplains, Psychologists, Social Workers, Counsellors: how do you build conversations about meaning? Spirituality? Connectedness? Transformation?
Here is a set of cards based on original photographs that will inspire exploration of the importance of purpose and belonging in our everyday lives. This tool is not based on a particular theology or philosophy [...]

Stones… have feelings too!

Describing feelings is at the heart of emotional literacy and therapeutic work.
Meet 52 quirky, engaging, happy, sad, afraid, shy, joyful and just plain outrageous “stone” characters – characters who wear their feelings all over their not-so-stony faces. On the back of each card are three possible words to help build a [...]

Storm in a Teacup

By Chris Townsend
Primary and Secondary Teachers, Art Therapists, Environmentalists and Parents; here is a poem set to paintings that follows the journey of a tear that drops into a teacup, eventually finding its way out to sea and then falling as rain over the same young boy and his beloved grandfather who cried the tear [...]

Symbols

Symbols is a box of 100 evocative images that work as poems for the soul.
A symbol is a metaphor–something that means something else. Metaphors and symbols work as short cuts–cosmic ‘worm holes’ to understanding and feelings. Symbols is a set of simple, free-hand line drawings of everyday objects that can suggest [...]