Sibling bereavement support groups have formed to help assist bereaved siblings adjust to family losses. The loss of a brother or sister, and the manner in which surviving siblings cope, is the subject of this review of literature dealing with the therapy/treatment/counseling groups which service this population.
The Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon (3909 S. E. 52nd, Portland, Oregon 97206, (503) 775-5683), is one such counseling group which works with bereaved siblings. In 1982, the Dougy Center offered its first support group, for children living with a recent loss. More than a decade later, the center's comfortable frame house now houses seven full-time staff members and twenty-six support groups. More than 150 volunteers extend the professional social workers' and psychologists' work.
Children are assigned to a support group of other children their age. Each group will have eight to fifteen children, one professional staff member, and enough volunteers to maintain a one-to-four ratio. This generous ratio means that children will have someone with them as they move around the house according to their needs: from the talking room, to a painting area, to the volcano room (lined in carpet and padding, and containing a giant hanging punching bag), to typewriters and computers where they can write a letter to the person who died.
The Dougy Center operates from the following four principals: (1.) Grief is a natural and expectable response to loss; (2.) Each person carries within an innate capacity to heal; (3.) The duration and intensity of grief is unique for each person; and (4.) Caring and acceptance are helpful to a person in resolving grief. In essence, the staff at the Dougy Center have the belief that bereaved children heal themselves--especially given a safe place for them to do their work.
The Dougy Center was started by Beverly Chappell, one of the nurses who had cared for Doug Turno, the Center's na...