Exemplar #3 Analysis

Critical Incident Manual

Coping with Loss: A Grief and Bereavement Manual
Standard Met:
Standard 29 Prevention Education and Training
Introduction
In Spring 2015, we enrolled in CSP 662B: Counseling Interventions with Children and
Adolescents. In this course, we were asked to create a counseling intervention training manual based
on a critical school incident. We selected grief and bereavement as our critical school incident. Our
manual focused on supporting students who are coping with loss. The manual provides an overview of
grief, what is looks like, the stages of grief, suitable interventions, and community resources.
Standards of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program
STANDARD 29: Prevention Education and Training
At some point in all of our lives, we will all experience what it is like to grieve the loss of someone or
something. Therefore, as school counselors, its important that we know how to support our students if
and when they experience loss in their lives. In addition to supporting our students, its important that
teachers and other support staff understand how the stages of grief occur and what they can do to
support a student during this time. Our manual was created for use in training teachers and other
educators about grief and what it looks like to support a student who is coping with loss. As mentioned
in the introduction, the manual provides suitable interventions and theories that are often used to
support a person who is experiencing grief. Although a teacher or another adult on campus may refer a
grieving student to the school counselor, its important that we create awareness around these critical
topics so these students can be identified and referred for additional support even if the teacher is not
the one providing that additional support.
Conclusion

Creating this manual taught me a great deal about grief and how to support students who are in
the grieving process. What I found most valuable in this manual are the interventions and theories that
we can put into place as school counselors to help support our students. My favorite section of the
manual is the section on Re-Membering Groups. In this section, its explained how school counselors
can use small grief groups to support students in re-membering their loved ones whom they have lost.
Whats key to re-membering groups is that students arent asked to forget or move away from the
person they lost. Instead, they find ways to remember loved ones through the telling of stories.
Its important we remember that students are facing a number of different things in their lives
and when they come to school, those things dont disappear so its essential that we seek training for
ourselves and help in training other staff to recognize different behaviors and how to support students
based on their needs and behaviors.