Innovation in Bereavement Support Using Storybooks for Healing
Mar 02, 2010“ Storybooks For Healing, a national bereavement support writing program, is launching it's online Memorial Storybook Publishing Center where beautiful books, preserving the memory of a lost loved one as well as life-wisdom, can be created. ”
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(ePrintWire.Org) – Storybooks For Healing, a national bereavement support writing program, announces that their new online Memorial Storybooks Publishing Center is now available to program participants and the public. In an eight week group program conducted by hospices, clergy, funeral homes and other professionals, Storybooks for Healing can effectively assist individuals in overcoming grief and loss through focused writing. At the end of the personal writing program, participants may author a beautiful hardbound custom storybook using our new Publishing Center.
After the death of her daughter at age 7 months to SIDS in 2001, S4H co-founder Melanie Davis knows personally the pain of loss and the importance of not only preserving, but sharing her family’s story. Melanie explains, “The published storybook serves as a powerful source of healing because we often hold onto grief as the means of ensuring our loved ones aren’t forgotten. A published book gives the writer permission to let go of their grief with the peace of knowing their memories are beautifully preserved for generations to come.” By publishing a storybook, the S4H participant continues to heal and find meaning in their loss. Their story becomes a source of help and inspiration to others in grief who realize it is possible to overcome pain and find purpose in their tragedy as they read the examples set by those before them. Posterity is also strengthened as this hard-won wisdom is recorded.
S4H recognizes that creating a memorial storybook is different than other writing, such as compiling a family history or making a vacation photo book. With the emotional reality of loss, confronting happy, cartoonish clip art and book layouts, designed for lighthearted memory-keeping, can sometimes be painful or not fitting for the more profound story loved-ones want to share. As an alternative to online photo books, Storybooks for Healing has developed a publishing site which has simple, yet elegant, layouts with ample space for text so authors can concentrate on the story and the important memories they yearn to share.
As the bereavement industry embraces technology, along with their valuable human relations outreach, Storybooks for Healing is at the innovative forefront of combining both. The results of the writing and publishing program show that S4H participants find a vehicle for talking with family members, are able to help others through their experience of grief, and validate their loved one’s life along with their own. Within just a few short weeks of directed program writing, S4H participants learn how to celebrate the life of their loved ones, instead of focusing on the death. In this process participants can discover purpose in their tragedy and hope for the future.
After the death of her daughter at age 7 months to SIDS in 2001, S4H co-founder Melanie Davis knows personally the pain of loss and the importance of not only preserving, but sharing her family’s story. Melanie explains, “The published storybook serves as a powerful source of healing because we often hold onto grief as the means of ensuring our loved ones aren’t forgotten. A published book gives the writer permission to let go of their grief with the peace of knowing their memories are beautifully preserved for generations to come.” By publishing a storybook, the S4H participant continues to heal and find meaning in their loss. Their story becomes a source of help and inspiration to others in grief who realize it is possible to overcome pain and find purpose in their tragedy as they read the examples set by those before them. Posterity is also strengthened as this hard-won wisdom is recorded.
S4H recognizes that creating a memorial storybook is different than other writing, such as compiling a family history or making a vacation photo book. With the emotional reality of loss, confronting happy, cartoonish clip art and book layouts, designed for lighthearted memory-keeping, can sometimes be painful or not fitting for the more profound story loved-ones want to share. As an alternative to online photo books, Storybooks for Healing has developed a publishing site which has simple, yet elegant, layouts with ample space for text so authors can concentrate on the story and the important memories they yearn to share.
As the bereavement industry embraces technology, along with their valuable human relations outreach, Storybooks for Healing is at the innovative forefront of combining both. The results of the writing and publishing program show that S4H participants find a vehicle for talking with family members, are able to help others through their experience of grief, and validate their loved one’s life along with their own. Within just a few short weeks of directed program writing, S4H participants learn how to celebrate the life of their loved ones, instead of focusing on the death. In this process participants can discover purpose in their tragedy and hope for the future.
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| Released By | Melanie Davis, Co Founder |
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