Geneva Counseling Students Help Grieving Children - Geneva College
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Geneva Counseling Students Help Grieving Children

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Volunteers Support Highmark Caring Place’s Children’s Grief Awareness Day Open House

(BEAVER FALLS, Pa.)  – Students in Geneva College’s M.A. in Counseling program volunteered at the Highmark Caring Place during last month’s Children’s Grief Awareness Day Open House. The Geneva students assisted with the operations of the 300-attendee event and helped raise awareness of children and families dealing with death of loved ones.

After a service learning trip in September to the Caring Place in Warrendale, PA, Dr. Shannan Shiderly challenged students in her Advanced Child and Adolescent Treatment and Intervention class to develop ways to increase awareness of the topic of grief. In response, 10 Geneva graduate students decided to volunteer during the open house at the Caring Place.

“We have been working with the Caring Place for the past 5 or 6 years and have established a nice partnership with the Counseling Program here at Geneva,” Shiderly says. “After visiting the Caring Place, many of our students end up either referring their clients there or becoming volunteers.”

The November 16 event is an annual platform to show grieving children and families that others care and support them, as well as to remember the lives lost and celebrate the lives that go on. The day includes activities and food to build community ties to those who can often feel alone and isolated.

Manager of the Highmark Caring Place’s Cranberry region office, Krista Ball says, “For the students, no matter what field they ultimately pursue, I hope the experience raises awareness of the needs of grieving children and gives them valuable insight about how to interact with people who have suffered loss. I also hope they will be able to carry these lessons through to their future clients.”

Geneva counseling student Kelly Connor learned this exact lesson and more. She says, “It helped me to realize that children who are navigating through grief are not any different from children who have yet to experience such losses. They desire to do fun things, connect with others, and not be treated any different from their non-grieving peers.”

The Highmark Caring Place is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization operating offices in Erie, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Warrendale. It offers a safe place where grieving children and families can come together and be with others who understand what they’re going through. An essential community resource, the Caring Place offers services at no charge to grieving families from throughout the community. Volunteers play an important role at the Caring Place helping with grief awareness and creating a grief-friendly culture. To volunteer, visit highmarkcaringplace.com or call the toll-free line of one of the regional offices available on the website.

Geneva College’s Master of Arts in Counseling offers academic training for students looking to pursue a career path of professional counseling. Students in the Christ-centered Master of Arts in Counseling degree program can choose from one of three concentrations, including Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling; Clinical Mental Health Counseling; or School Counseling. For more information, visit Geneva.edu/graduate/counseling or call 724-847-6769.

Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and classroom options, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.
Dec 18, 2017