- May 2, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Three retreats are planned through September and October to help grieving children work through complicated emotions using art and horses as therapy tools.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
When a child or teenager is grieving the loss of loved one, it’s not easy for them to express their feelings, according to Karen Grant, a therapist for Halifax Health — Hospice BeginAgain Children’s Grief Center. But she believes art and horses might be the answer.
“If feelings are kept inside, they come out in ways that are not healthy," said Grant, who leads Halifax's Hearts and Hooves family retreat program, meant to provide a safe outlet for grief expression. “Unexpressed grief in children could lead to issues later in life resulting in relationship conflict, addictions, anxiety, lack of trust, and poor academic performance.”
The retreats, held at Artquest School of Art and Design, 571 Leeway Trail, are designed for children ages 8-18, along with family members. They spend half of the session in the art studio and half with the horses, grooming them then leading them around an obstacle course which symbolizes the journey of grief.
“Horses are very sensitive to nonverbal cues — if you are having a bad day, they know it,” Grant said. “They may stop on the path if they sense the child tensing up. This helps to get the child and the adult with them to talk about their feelings.”
Grant said it’s hard for kids to just sit in a room and talk it all out.
“This gets them talking,” she said. “Sometimes the adults tries to be strong for the child but we encourage them to talk also and serve as a role model.”
The obstacles on the pathway represent major life events that the child will be facing, such as graduation or marriage. The child will think of their lost loved one when they reach these events, so Grant said it’s important for them to think about these upcoming events now.
Another part of the horse therapy is to paint a “memory” on the horse. When painting, the kids can talk about the memory to the adult or even talk to the horse.
The retreat is conducted by Karen Grant along with trained grief counselors and Karen’s husband, Greg, who is a certified equine specialist and artist. The Grants own the art school and horses.
After the session with the horses, the children talk about their experience and what they learned and then go into the art studio.
“Emotions are expressed through art,” Karen Grant said. “When you work with your hands, it frees up your feelings. Kids don’t have the verbalization to express themselves with words.”
All of the art the children create in the retreat is horse-related, such as horseshoes decorated with topaz and coral stones, or horseshoe nails crafted into jewelry.
“The art is a talisman of their experience that day,” Greg Grant said. “They will look at these objects in the future and remember the things they did here.”
In longer sessions, participants create more finished art on canvas.
Karen Grant said Hearts and Hooves is just part of a long-term process in grief recovery.
Hearts and Hooves Family Retreats
The next Hearts and Hooves events will take place 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 21 and 28, and Oct. 26. Call 258-5100.
