By: Sharon Hollander
One Saturday morning in early April brought the most welcome visitors to the Samaritan main office in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It was the start of Healing Hearts, a novel therapeutic group experience for grieving children and families. Staffed by professionals from the Social Work department and the Center for Grief Support, the gathering was the first of four free half-day sessions planned for 2025, each developed around a different topic. The very timely theme for this session: April showers bring May flowers.
They say a good day starts with a good breakfast, and this day was no exception. There were bagels and cream cheese, cereal and milk, and plenty of coffee for the adults on offer in the kitchen. Families clearly enjoyed the meal, largely keeping to themselves, before they convened in the newly and florally decorated conference room for the opening full group activity.
They didn’t know a storm was brewing — of the very best kind.
Group members sat on the floor in a circle and got ready for a change in the weather. All the lights were turned off and music therapists Charity Jones and Julia D’Amico conjured an imaginary thunderstorm through narrative and visual imagery. Charity read a tempestuous guided meditation as Julia orchestrated the kid-powered musical instruments, like rain sticks, thunder tubes, and ocean drums. The soundscape was complete. At the end of this truly multi-sensory experience, Charity invoked a sheltering umbrella to protect group members from the elements.
For the next part of the day, participants were broken out by age group. Tina Rubano and Julia D’Amico gathered the littles – ages 4-8 – for their next set of activities. Early on, there was development and sharing of group rules and the Me Too! Game, an ice breaker to help the littles get to know each other. With these foundations in place, the children were ready for a hands-on good time.
With plenty of art supplies and adult assistance on hand, the children created feelings clouds — paper clouds with different facial expressions on each side and colorful streamers coming off the edges. This cloud activity is designed to help kids identify their feelings about their lost loved one, with the streamers representing a rainbow of hope. The message being that even when struggling with very challenging emotions, like sadness, anger and anxiety, there’s always the promise of something positive ahead.
Gopi Shah and Angela Laramour took the middles - ages 9-12. This group started by introducing themselves, including their names and family members being honored that day. After art materials were distributed, participants used a white crayon to draw lines, shapes and images on paper. With mindful music playing, the young artists used watercolors to paint over their crayon designs. The crayon wax resisted the paint, and the original impressions shone through, creating one-of-a-kind pieces. In addition, both littles and middles decorated small wooden umbrellas for a shared activity later in the day.
For both groups, art therapy provided a safe and vibrant space to transform grief into creative expression.
At the same time, Christine Minerva led the adults in their supportive meeting. These participants had an opportunity to connect and to share thoughts and feelings. Although there were no teens at this session, there was an activity planned for them, and it will be ready for the next session of Healing Hearts.
The whole group gathered again after the breakout sessions. The children enthusiastically engaged in games with a multi-colored parachute. Afterwards, they were asked to take out their individually decorated wooden mini-umbrellas and hang them on a large black-and-white drawing of an umbrella. With encouragement, the children named something or someone that makes them feel safe, especially when they’re feeling blue, in the way an umbrella keeps the holder dry and protected from the rain. Some youngsters shared their similarities and connections. Others talked about people, well-loved colors, or specific memories that provided comfort and shelter.
With a theme that included May flowers, a planting activity could not be far behind. Each family decorated a flowerpot in memory of their loved one and then soil and spring plants were placed in each of the beautified pots. Once the budding creations were complete, there was a brief discussion of growth, even after loss and difficult times.
This Healing Hearts session culminated with lunch, including crunchy vegetables and dip, much-anticipated pizza pies, and for dessert, even-more-anticipated cupcakes with sprinkles. Above all, excellent connections were made. The more private dining seen at breakfast was long gone. Families, especially children, mixed it up, moving from table to table and back and forth across the room.
Creating a sense of community is the goal of Healing Hearts and this initial session made that happen. With help from staffers, children and adult participants learned that they are not alone in their grief. In addition, Samaritan professionals had an opportunity to work together and use their ideas and energy to create an original and impactful therapeutic day for local families.
Many thanks to team members Kimberly Rumaker, Meggan Donelly, Sara Miller, Sharon Hollander and Gia Mosetter for their contributions to the day.