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Hunterdon Hospice Youth Art Bereavement Group Participates in “Healing through the Horse” Program

Hunterdon Hospice hosted a follow up workshop to their 12-week
intensive Youth Art Bereavement Program held every winter. The winter
program invites all school-aged children who have experienced the loss
of a loved one to attend. Children use the medium of art to explore and
express their grief. Parents are encouraged to learn about their
child’s perception of loss, as well as interventions for coping
with their own grief.

This year, through the generosity and support of donors, Hunterdon
Hospice offered a follow up workshop, “Healing through the Horse.”
The workshop took place this summer in Alexandria Township at the
stables of Riding With HEART (Hunterdon Equine Assisted Recreation and
Therapy). Hunterdon Hospice partnered with Riding With HEART to
reinforce the concepts of healing offered throughout the  Youth Art
Bereavement Program and create a special, one of a kind experience for
their grieving families.

The children worked individually with the horses, in “hands on”
exercises that allowed them to groom, interact with, and ride the
horses. Using Native American symbols and their own creativity, the
children painted the horses as part of a concrete ritual of release. The
experience was therapeutic and memorable for all of the nineteen
children who attended the workshop.

Riding With HEART has been providing equine assisted psychotherapy and
learning to many specialized populations in the community and Hunterdon
Hospice was thrilled for the opportunity to work together on such an
important and meaningful program. “Being with peers who have had
similar experiences normalizes the grief process. Listening and
observing other children’s expressions of grief may also help them
openly express their own grief. The interaction with the horses provided
yet another avenue to deal with their grief in a positive and supportive
way,” explained Diane Gilbert, LCSW, Coordinator of the Hunterdon
Hospice Youth Art Bereavement Program and Healing through the Horse.
“This positive feedback provided by the attending families was
overwhelming and we hope to be able to do it again,” said Gilbert.

Hunterdon Hospice is currently accepting registration for the 2012
Youth Art Bereavement Program beginning this winter. To register or make
a donation to this program, please call Hunterdon Hospice, 908-788-6600.
For additional information about Riding With HEART visit
www.ridingwithheart.org.

Pictured: Joyce Lindabery, Hospice Volunteer, Charlotte and Grace
Benthin of Frenchtown, NJ participants of the workshop