(2016) Science and education, 9, 174-181. Odessa.

 Mykhailo Tomchuk,

Doctor of Psychology, professor, Head of the Department of Psychology,

Mariia Yatsiuk,

PhD (Candidate of Psychological Sciences), associate professor,

Department of Psychology,The Academy of Continuing Education,

13, Hrushevskoho Str., Vynnytsia, Ukraine

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PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT OF CHILDREN EXPERIENCING THE LOSS OF PARENTS AT RECREATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The article substantiates the system of psychological support of children experiencing the grief of loss of parents provided by recreational Institutions of Ukraine. Grief is the intense anguish of mind, child’s deep sorrow for the adult he/she used to be close to. It is characterized by the fact that the comprehension of the loss is followed by severe stress caused by exposure to the event. Dynamics of the grief is reflected in the child’s interaction with the world, which has changed since the loved person died, and in his/her mental activities as a result of reflecting and realisation of the loss. Child’s experiencing of the sorrow caused by the loss of parents is a deep and traumatic process, which includes three phases: protest, despair, and disengagement. At first, a child hopes for his/her kindred’s return insistently with tears and anger, which causes intense suffering, but when the hopes extinguish, he/she starts feeling despair. These phases are interchanging for particular time and afterwards cause the feelings of anxiety, fear, shame, anger, guilt. Unexpected, violent death and child’s witnessing of the event intensify the dynamics of grief. Denying the fact of the relative’s death  is the result of lack or distortion of perception of the facts about the death. One of the main features of abnormal grief, which is expressed in the formation of mental disturbance, is inability to express sorrow manifestly, irrational motives to bring back the person who used to be close to the child, being angry and blaming the late parent with regret and sorrow for him/her.Instead of open volcanic irrational manifestation of grief, which leads to stable results, striving for bringing the late parent back and blaming him/her with the full ambivalence of feelings become fragmented and oppressed. According to the model proposed by the authors, there has been developed the programme of events of socio-psychological support for children, which is aimed at making psychologists who work at recreational/educational institutions aware of the stages of correctional and developmental work with children for preventing mental disturbances in them. Experiencing separation by a child is considered to produce the desired effect in case he/she has acquired some new affection among people around him/her.

grief of loss, dynamics of grief, psychological support of children.

 

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