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Patients and their families who seek support and wish to better understand the elements of illness and treatment can participate in these special programs:
The following support groups were formed to to give children and adolescents with cancer and blood disorders a chance to talk about their illness in a comfortable setting. Each family member will have the opportunity to discuss the problems that affect his or her daily life, and, with new friends, find solutions. This group is for children under three years of age and their parents or caregivers. The group provides opportunities for small children to use creative expression, developmental activities, and medical play to increase socialization, support and familiarity regarding the hospital environment. Play, movement and music all help enhance the child's ease with medical treatment and restore feelings of basic trust and comfort. This group uses creative arts therapy such as music therapy, art therapy, dance therapy, and play therapy to provide children with psychoeducational information regarding their medical experiences. Through creative expressions and therapeutic group activities each child finds structured ways of communicating specific themes such as family issues, self-image, hospital, disease, and feelings. The group format helps children build peer relationships and develop a strong social support system that facilitates a positive sense of self. This group provides children with a way to express and communicate their feelings and concerns in a supportive atmosphere by using art and play therapy. A range of art materials is provided to stimulate various forms of expression.
Specific themes such as peer relationships, changes, disease, and treatment are addressed to help the child cope with the demands of medical illness and treatment. Therapeutic interventions are made with particular attention to the child's developmental needs. This group for school-aged children uses creative arts therapy to help children cope with feelings of anxiety and loss; in their attempts to restore mastery and control. Children begin to build a sense of group unity and develop positive peer relationships. Through structured body movement activities, children have the opportunity to release aggression in a safe way, create imaginary play scenes, and find adaptive ways to cope with the stresses related to having cancer.
This group is for school-aged children (ages 6-12) who have been off therapy for one year or more.
Children are able to maintain a network for social support. Recreational and creative arts therapy activities are offered on a monthly basis for these children to learn ways to adapt to previous and new roles and relationships. There are also opportunities for families to identify and cope with the sources of their ongoing stress. Many different groups are offered to siblings of various ages. Through creative arts therapy, brothers and sisters have the chance to address their individual concerns about having a sibling with cancer. Many children feel frightened, angry, confused, and anxious about their sibling's illness. Art, movement, and play materials provide the stimulus for engaging children in a creative and therapeutic process that builds communication skills and develops beneficial coping strategies. Parent's Support Groups This group provides a supportive environment where parents and caregivers can share feelings and concerns about their child's illness and its impact on the family. Parents and caregivers learn new ways to cope with the following:
For more information about The Tomorrows Children's Institute's Support Groups please call: Susan Cohen Judy Solomon, The Tomorrows Children’s Institute runs several bereavement groups on a regular basis. There is a monthly evening group for parents. In this group parents share their concerns and learn from each other how to go on after the loss of their child. For most parents this loss is very traumatic and usual coping methods may not be sufficient to deal with this great a loss. Parents learn ways to cope and gain support and strength from the group process. While this group is meeting there is another group available for significant others, perhaps a grandparent or young adult sibling, who is also struggling with their loss. At the Tomorrows Children’s Institute there are also art therapy groups for siblings of patients who have died. There are two sibling groups offered, one for children under the age of 11 and the other for teens. In these groups the children explore with the therapist their reactions to the loss of their brother or sister. Children are given the opportunity to express themselves in a safe, nurturing environment. Most of these children feel very comfortable meeting at the hospital, and therapeutic relationships that were developed while their sibling was on treatment are used to help them cope with their loss. While the children are meeting, their parents are also offered a group where they can share their concerns about themselves and their families. Parents are often initially very distraught and find comfort in being with other parents whose children have died. Some parents find it difficult to be with their friends and are not able to enjoy themselves. They need time to heal and begin to put themselves back together. The group helps them transcend their grief and go on with their lives. By supporting the parents we enable them to provide support to their other children who are also grieving. For more information about these groups, contact Judy Solomon, LCSW at (201) 996-5624. The Sickle Cell Support Group Program is a unique program offered to help the entire family cope with Sickle Cell disease. The chronic illness presents life long challenges. Through groups, led by social workers and child life specialists, the entire family will learn about Sickle Cell disease and the impact it can have on each family member. Our physicians, psychologists, clinical nurse specialists, and educational liaison will meet with the group to discuss specific issues such as treatment advances, pain management, school absences, and medical complications. Most if all, each family member will have an opportunity to discuss the problems that affect their daily lives and, with new friends, find solutions. |
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For more information, please contact us at tel: (201) 996-5437 / fax: (201) 487-7340 / email: info@tcikids.com The Tomorrows Children's Institute |
