SINGAPORE - Tapestries of Grief, Singapore's first festival on grief and loss, is returning for a second edition from Aug 3 to Sept 25.
Themed "Together, We Remember", this year's festival features more than 20 free events, from art therapy and journalling workshops for grieving parents to talks on managing a loved one's virtual legacy after his or her death.
The festival is organised by Grief Matters, a movement by social service agency Montfort Care to promote grief literacy to support the bereaved.
The sessions will be led by experts in fields such as counselling, social work and creative arts.
Among them is Ms Chee Wai Yee, senior director of Grief Matters at Montfort Care, who will give an online talk titled Life After Caregiving: What's Next?.
Held in English on Aug 11 and Mandarin on Aug 12, it addresses the different grief reactions of bereaved caregivers and maps out the challenges they may face in adjusting to life without the deceased.
Caregivers are expected to move on after the death of the people they were caring for, says Ms Chee, but they might have mixed feelings "as they have not had the opportunity to think about what life might be for them beyond caregiving".
She adds: "When they are not struggling with resisting the well-intentioned messages from relatives and friends, they might have to invest their energy in rebuilding their social network, worrying about financial security and their own health, and discovering other purposes of their life."
In her talk, Ms Chee will also provide suggestions on how to support a bereaved caregiver. "It's not one size fits all. Learn a few ways to manage your grief 'in doses' and to restore other focuses in life. It's not an 'all or none' choice when it comes to grief," she says.
Dr Alicia Pon, a clinical consultant at PlayHeals Therapy, will talk about supporting siblings who are living with grief on Aug 23. PlayHeals offers counselling, coaching and psychotherapy services.
The talk in English will cover topics such as introduction to childhood developmental stages and their grief expression, and learning playful and creative strategies to help children deal with loss.
Younger children, Dr Pon says, may not have the moral or cognitive capacity to understand and process the separation brought about by death and its immediate or long-term consequences.
"In many cases, bereaved children exhibit more intense emotional and behavioural expressions, but more intermittently and more briefly than an adult," she says.
Parents and caregivers must learn to give the bereaved child space to grieve, she advises.
"Teaching children useful coping methods to build their resilience may give bereaved children clarity of their grieving process, attitudes and behaviours and make them feel less alone," adds Dr Pon.
Apart from talks and workshops, this year's festival will introduce an interactive platform for the bereaved to share memories of their loved ones.
Says Ms Chee: "Our most intimate and meaningful memories of our loved ones are often built in the everyday experiences, from the meals and music we shared with them to the places we visited together.
"A communal platform such as Grief Connections helps weave the grief expressions into a tapestry of togetherness, and recognise grief as a universal human experience."
- All talks and workshops are free by registration. For more information, go to this website. To support Grief Matters' work, members of the public may consider making a donation here.
