|
Why bereavement support?
Help from friends and others whom we trust is a valuable
way of moving forward in difficult situations. However,
there are times when we don’t make progress because the
situation is too deep seated or traumatic to be dealt
with adequately. These are the occasions when a person
needs to meet with a trained listener or counsellor so
that they can help them explore and manage what is
happening in their life. The overall aim of counselling
is to provide an opportunity for that person to work
towards a more satisfying and resourceful experience of
life. Some people find that the ability to discuss their
difficulties openly with someone they can trust is
sufficient reason on its own to enter into a
counselling/counselling skills relationship; just
explaining things to someone impartial can often clarify
the situation.
Jenny’s Story
Jenny went for bereavement support some months after her
brother died. The relationship with her supporter began
as soon as they met. To begin with the volunteer
listened a great deal and often clarified and reflected
comments back to Jenny to encourage her to explore her
loss so that both she and her volunteer could develop an
accurate picture of the situation. Jenny found herself
encouraged to talk, to think and also to listen. As the
sessions continued Jenny was able to come to terms with
her situation and develop ways of moving forward.
The volunteer who was trained to avoid imposing his/her
own view and answers to a situation did not make
judgements, but facilitated an interactive, two-way
process to help Jenny realise her own potential and work
through her grief.
What training is available?
CBCS offers a range of training courses which enable
volunteers to use counselling skills in supporting
clients.
Our client facing volunteers are only part of the CBCS
team; we have volunteers who work in a variety of other roles:
administration, fundraising, committee work
etc. We would train you for these as well.
If you think you can help, just contact the
National Office - (e-mail
here).
CBCS offer a CBCS/COSCA Certificate in Bereavement
Counselling Skills, for people with little or no
previous counselling/counselling skills experience. This
is a 4 module course, held over 24 days, at weekends
throughout the year.
CBCS also offer a Specialist Module in Bereavement and
Loss, for people with a minimum of 120 hours prior
counselling skills training and who wish to obtain a
specific bereavement counselling skills qualification.
This course is of 6 days duration, at weekends, spread over 2 months.
CBCS also offer a CBCS/CBC (Child Bereavement Charity)
Working with Bereaved Children and Young People course.
This training is aimed at existing CBCS volunteers who
wish to expand their practice to work with bereaved
children and young people. The course is also suitable
for professionals who work with bereaved children and
young people.
All of the above courses are validated by COSCA (the
professional body for Counselling and Psychotherapy in
Scotland)
All CBCS client facing volunteers go to ‘supervision’
sessions with a trained supervisor. There is also the
CBCS Supervision Course, for experienced practitioners
wishing to move into a supervisory role.
For more details of the courses -
click here or download .pdf
version
|
