Children's Grief Camp returns with group therapy and activities Saturday in Galesburg
GALESBURG — The Children’s Grief Camp, an event that provides group therapy and therapy oriented activities for grieving youth, is returning to Galesburg Saturday, May 21.
The camp is free, open to children ages 5-18 and will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Carl Sandburg College. Doug Gibb, the camp director, said that between 30 and 40 young people have already enrolled, but the camp won’t turn away anyone who walks in.
Besides age-appropriate group therapy sessions with licensed therapists, the camp provides a wide range of “learning centers” or activities. These include but are not limited to flower planting, shirt painting, pillow-case sewing, yoga, musical therapy, pet therapy, motivational talk, biodegradable balloon launch and butterfly release.
Though parents are not allowed to stay at the camp with their children, kids can bring a friend to participate in the activities with them.
Gibb is a licensed therapist that has researched death and dying and specialized in grief therapy. He said the camp’s activities are based in research and will incorporate discussions that intend to help young people in their healing process after the loss of a loved one.
Despite studying research on the mourning process and what other therapists and psychologists have done for patients, Gibb said that the children themselves are still the best teachers on the subject.
“They are the greatest teachers ever because they let us know, they teach us what they need to know and what they want,” Gibb said. “And we have to listen to them. That's where the best research comes from, is watching them and learning from them and them telling their story.”
Saturday will mark the Children Grief Camp’s 25th year and its return from a two and a half year hiatus during the pandemic. The camp is provided by the nonprofit the Prairieland Hospice Foundation.
Gibb said that when he first helped start the program, he had no idea it would grow from just 8-10 participants to now an average of 40-50. The director said that the camp draws youth from all over the area and that some come back to help once they are older.
After each camp session, Gibb said he sits down with his main staff and reviews what they did in camp and whether it accomplished what they set out to do.
The director said that the latter question is often answered years later when young people share the impact the camp had on their lives.
"When the kids get ahold of us later themselves in life, or the parents get a hold of us, or their guardians — remember not everyone lives with mom and dad — they tell us what a wonderful experience it was, what a healthy and healing process it was and the doors that it opened for communication in their homes,” Gibb said.
“That's when we know that we're on the right track.”
This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: Children's Grief Camp in Galesburg IL returns Saturday after hiatus
