GUELPH – As part of its grief support efforts, Hospice Wellington will be continuing its gentle art therapy invitations in the new year.
The art therapy program has been running since the summer of 2022, and runs year-round in 10-week cycles that correspond with every season.
“This group started when I was just part-time,” said Hospice Wellington art therapist Erica Palmer. “Now it’s become more of a staple in our grief and bereavement services here.”
She added, “It’s a gentle encounter with art making, it’s a gentle way to enter into this alternative way of expressing oneself and one’s grace, through various art invitations that incorporate all kinds of different materials [and] all different aspects of grief.”
Palmer emphasized no artistic experience, skill or training is required to participate.
“It’s a really, really beautiful holding space where people learn a lot about grief, while also getting a chance to be with themselves [and] be with the feelings that they’re experiencing and express them in an environment that’s safe, warm, inviting and encouraging of all the different ways that grief can present in each person’s life,” she said.
To get involved, individuals first must be a client at Hospice Wellington.
“They have to come and get an assessment done with our bereavement coordinator [and] go through that intake process so that we can put together a care plan and see what this person is really hoping for, or needing,” said Palmer.
There are many different grief support programs available at Hospice Wellington to meet individual needs.
Winter groups for gentle art therapy invitations are full, but more groups will open up again in the spring.
Groups tend to include eight clients at a time to ensure there is opportunity to share and to focus support without it being too overwhelming.
Palmer told the Advertiser Hospice Wellington has anywhere from 150 to 200 grief and bereavement clients at a time. To learn more about Hospice Wellington programs visit hospicewellington.org.
