Expressing Your Mourning Process is Acceptable
In times of unimaginable loss, the ELISA service offers a beacon of hope for families with children nearing the end of their lives. This service, based in Austria, provides low-threshold and empathetic support, helping families navigate the complexities of their situation.
The grief model employed by ELISA professionals is the kaleidoscope model of Chris Paul, a model that acknowledges the intricate and multifaceted nature of grief. This model consists of five facets: Survival, Feelings, Reality, Connection, and Classification.
The Survival facet encourages individuals to focus on their basic needs, such as breathing, eating, and sleeping. This facet serves as a reminder that self-care is crucial during such difficult times.
The Feelings facet, self-explanatory in nature, provides a space for families to express their emotions and deal with the intense turmoil they are experiencing.
The Reality facet acknowledges that grasping the entire reality of loss all at once would be unbearable. Instead, it catches up with individuals gradually.
The Connection facet emphasises the importance of integrating the deceased into one's life in a new way, rather than letting go, which would be perceived as betrayal.
The Classification facet addresses the lack of a term for a parent who has lost a child, and it encourages individuals to find their own way to cope with this aspect of their grief.
The goal of ELISA's grief accompaniment is to show individuals their own strength. This is achieved by providing clear information, emotional support, and a continuous compassionate presence. This model helps families navigate medical decisions and the emotional experience surrounding the death, fostering trust and a sense of being supported throughout their grief journey.
In addition to emotional support, ELISA also helps with practical matters. They assist with social security issues, bureaucratic procedures, and applications, taking some of the burden off families during this challenging time.
Depending on desire or need, joint outings are possible during respite stays in a children's hospice. These stays can last one or two weeks, providing a common timeout to recharge and share experiences with the sick child or siblings.
The ELISA service can extend over several years, providing ongoing support as needed. This extends beyond the immediate aftermath of loss, offering families a continuous space to process their grief at their own pace.
The women of ELISA view grief as the solution, not the problem. They believe in walking alongside the grieving family, offering empathy, and helping them find meaning and resilience.
While the search results do not explicitly detail ELISA's grief accompaniment model, they emphasise the fundamental role of accompaniment in providing clear information about medical decisions and emotional support during difficult times. This suggests that ELISA’s approach likely includes clear communication, ethical consideration, emotional presence, and tailored support to meet the unique needs of bereaved families.
In general, grief accompaniment models focus on walking alongside the grieving family rather than simply offering advice, emphasising being a witness to their pain, offering empathy, and helping them find meaning and resilience.
ELISA's approach, grounded in the kaleidoscope model of grief, offers a compassionate and holistic approach to supporting families through the grieving process.
Science and health-and-wellness are intertwined in ELISA's approach, as they offer mental-health support for families navigating the complexities of loss. The kaleidoscope model of grief, employed by ELISA professionals, acknowledges the multifaceted nature of grief, providing a holistic and compassionate approach to supporting families during their grieving process.
