Richmond area center helps children deal with grief

When Allyson Drake worked as a school counselor in Henrico County, she sometimes tried to refer children dealing with grief to outside programs, but she had a hard time finding them.

Most programs focused on adults, she said, and the few programs for children were usually short-term. "There was such a gap," she said.

Now she's trying to fill the need with Full Circle Grief Center. Drake and her husband, Stephen, incorporated in September 2008 to support grieving children ages 3 to 18 and their families by using creative expression.

Programs include Hands-on Healing Groups and Creative Connections Remembrance Workshops, both led by professional counselors and offered free. Fall sessions are scheduled at Bon Secours Hospice, United Methodist Family Services, ASK, Second Baptist Church and Hospice of Virginia. They hope to have an office in Henrico next month but plan to continue scheduling programs around the region.

Work in schools also has become an active part of their program this fall, with at least eight separate groups forming at four or five schools to help students who have experienced sudden, tragic losses of loved ones.

"There's something to say for going to meet children where they are," Drake said.

Working through the emotions is often accomplished through creative projects. Children have made quilts, memory boxes and art to identify their feelings and remember their loved ones.

"So many younger children don't have the words to express what they're feeling. Older children don't want to communicate," she said. "Art is universal, nonthreatening, comfortable. They don't even realize that they are healing."

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or .