On Saturday, 17 August 2024, Hayley Solich presented to the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Perth Chapter. Speaking to the topic of Grief Literacy and the work of The Grief Centre of WA.
“It was a delight to be able to unpack the work of The Grief Centre of WA for the ACA Counsellors. I recognise that for many, who may be at the start of their counselling careers, the value of understanding that grief work is foundational for healing may be missing or at least not well understood. It should be a core element of all counselling training that grief work is understood and practiced because of the prevalence of the grief and loss experiences affecting the whole of our community. And as facilitators of healing, counsellors also need to be held while they facilitate healing,” says Hayley Solich.
The Response
Many ACA counsellors responded enthusiastically to Hayley’s call to action. She encouraged them to gain a deeper understanding of the value of grief work in the healing process. She also invited engagement with The Grief Centre of WA.
Sharing personal experiences, Hayley unpacked how the Centre is utilising an experiential learning framework to help clients to unlock transformation. She detailed her own work in The Grief Box for Carers Workshop Series. Unveiling a transformational process and the utilisation of emotional intelligence and grief literacy.
She also described the pivotal moment in her own journey as a person providing support to people grieving. Unveiling it is the ability to sit well with uncomfortable emotions that enables effective facilitation of transformation.
In conclusion, Hayley extended an invitation to ACA counsellors to do their own grief work.
“Who is caring for the ACA counsellors?”
Hayley seeks to raise awareness of the vicarious trauma experienced by counsellors through exposure to other people’s grief stories. Hayley invited counsellors to access the Grief Centre for their own grief work needs.
Slides from the presentation:
