Pathfinders: Promoting healthy adjustment in bereaved children and families

Figures & data

Table 1. Reactions and experiences targeted in Pathfinders.

Disruptive grief reactions	Restorative grief experiences
Denial about the death	Expressing grief and distress
Confusion about cause of death	Developing healthy coping skills
Overwhelming separation distress	Connecting with supportive peers
Debilitating depressive symptoms	Building supportive relationships with caring adults
Suicidal ideation or self-harm	Seeking support from professionals when needed
Explosive anger	Forming and sharing a coherent narrative
Excessive fears, worries, anxiety	Remembering, memorializing
Guilt and self-blame	Maintaining an enduring emotional connection with deceased
Isolation, withdrawal, mistrust	Meaning making
Posttraumatic stress symptoms	Engaging in enjoyed activities
	Reflecting on personal or posttraumatic growth

Figure 1. Coping Companion tool.

Table 2. Pathfinders program by session.

Cairn themes	Milestones of Healing	Influences	Sample references
Phase I: Getting started—Grief education and skill building
1. Beginning	Understanding and accepting the reality of the death and its impact	Psychoeducation, group process	Worden (1991)
2. Grieving	Recognizing connections among diverse grief reactions	Trauma, cognitive behavioral	Cohen et al. (2006)
3. Coping	Building skills for coping that promote healing and well-being	Coping, dual process	Stroebe and Schut (1999)
Phase II: Telling our stories—Honoring the narrative
4. Sharing	Developing a narrative of the death and integrating it into a larger life story	Narrative	White and Epston (1990)
5. Changing	Acknowledging and adapting to changes in life and self after the death	Existential	Yalom (1980)
6. Exploring	Addressing difficult aspects of the relationship, the death, or the grieving process	Gestalt	Greenberg and Foerster (1996)
7. Remembering	Maintaining memories and enduring connection to the person who died	Attachment, continuing bonds	Klass et al. (1996)
Phase III: Moving forward—Integrating loss into life
8. Connecting	Engaging in supportive relationships and enjoyed activities	Ecological systems	Bronfenbrenner (1979)
9. Preparing	Reflecting on growth and planning for the future	Strengths-based, posttraumatic growth	Tedeschi and Calhoun (2004)
10. Continuing	Progressing on a path of health and wellness	Family systems	Sandler et al. (2003)