Month: <span>May 2015</span>

Teacher training and development workshops in South Africa

Teacher training and development

Teacher training and development: Introduction

Teacher training and development is not something that happens at the start of your career only.  It is an ongoing process, especially in our modern-day world.

Being a teacher is not easy.  It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and even so, it can sometimes be a thankless job.  Teachers face a lot of challenges in their daily work, and even pre-primary and primary school teachers face difficulties dealing with discipline, and abnormal behaviour in class. Read more

bullying workshops for teachers

Bullying workshops for teachers in South Africa

Bullying workshops for teachers

Are you a school principal dealing with bullying or other behaviour problems / issues at your school.  Maybe you are part of the school governing body at your child’s school, and have heard about the problems with bullying facing our schools. Read on to see how educating end empowering the teacher’s at your school can help to solve this issue, through practical on-site bullying workshops for teachers in South Africa.

Bullying workshops for teachers: Introduction Read more

Trauma therapy after death

Trauma therapy after death and loss

Trauma therapy after death and loss: Introduction

Death is well known as one of the top three traumas that a person can experience. When a person close to you dies, the impact of the shock affects you as a “person in total”. “Person in total” means that it can affect every part of your life (or at least some parts).  For this reason, it is recommended that a person seeks trauma therapy after death, or a loss.

Trauma therapy after death and loss: Person as a whole

Examples of the various parts of a person are:

Emotional being
– anxiousness / aggressiveness / having a bad feeling in your stomach / dry mouth / hypersensitive for noises.

Physical state
– without any feelings / alone / shocked / guilty.

Social state
– irritated between people (even between friends) / withdraw into yourself / want to be left alone.

Thoughts
– confused / forgetful / problems to concentrate / dreaming / feels the presence of your loved one.

Behaviour
– sleeping problems / restless / change in eating patterns / tearful / avoid memories of your loved one.

Trauma therapy after death and loss: Do and Don’t

How to handle a grieving person:

DONT’S
– talk too much (to hide your own uncertainties);
– say things like: * God has picked the most beautiful flower in the garden; *
– your’e parent was old, it’s not so bad;
– things will get better;
– pull yourself together;
– handle your friend different from what you did in the past (he has a need to be treated as normal).
DO’S
– Just be there: give a hug (don’t say anything, because you are probably as stunned as the grieving person himself;
– visit the grieving person again in future (he’ll need you even more than now);
– let him know on special days, for example his loved one’s birthday / Christmas, that you think of him (not just a once off);
– invite your friend for a coffee / nice outing (keep on asking – even if he refuses to go; tell him that you really want to have coffee with him);

Trauma therapy after death and loss: what’s next

In my next post, I will talk about 7 ways to deal with your own grieving process.

Keep well!

Seven hints for a grieving person

Seven hints for a grieving person

Seven hints for a grieving person: Introduction

Grieving people are usually concerned about their feelings and experiences. They wonder: Am I normal? What is wrong with me?  So here are seven hints for a grieving person.

Seven hints for a grieving person: Dealing with the changes

As discussed in a previous post, a grieving person may experience a lot of changes and feelings throughout his body as well as in his relationships with other people. These physical-, social-, and emotional changes (see a previous post) are normal. If you are going through the immense pain of the grieving process, print out the following seven hints for a grieving person and read and remember it many times during your days:

1. You are loveable even when you are a confused mess.
2. Crying is a gift.
3. Almost every thought, behaviour and feeling is normal.
4. You are not alone.
5. People are uncomfortable with grieving people.
6. No matter how bad you feel, you will survive.
7. It takes as long as it takes.

Mary Kelly Perschy

Parents and teachers are puzzle pieces in child development - Dr. Marisa van Niekerk Val de Vie and Franschhoek

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