The evening began with a group discussion of Endings and Transitions. Many interesting perspectives were aired. Here are a few of them:
Our experience of endings in childhood may well shape how we deal with endings and transitions for the rest of our lives. Endings can be seen as worrying and full of loss and grief or as an opportunity for new beginnings or as a mixture of the two.
Endings may be of our choosing or visited upon us by circumstances or others’ decisions. Our experience of endings may be supported by others or not. Sometimes there is a helpful ritual to signal an ending such as a graduation ceremony, a retirement party or a funeral.
Endings also occur at the end of the relationship between counsellors and clients. How do such endings feel and how are they handled? Are such endings safe and healthy for clients and counsellors?
Negative feelings about endings can include anger, disappointment, fear and sadness, and I think these feelings were present in the room during this discussion.
Personally, my spirits were raised by the craft activity we were invited to take part in during the second half of the evening where my focus was more on transition and its positive possibilities.
My own musings as I created a scene of a picture of a boat travelling out to sea (with a cutting from a magazine pasted onto coloured card) was the possibility of further adventures and new horizons as I retire from my hacp admin job after nearly 18 years at the end of next February. That was a surprisingly helpful creative activity for me and I could see that a lot of other people in the room enjoyed that opportunity too.
So thank you Jacqueline for an interesting and moving evening, and especially for the opportunity to do some creative work. We really should have more such activities in hacp talks and workshops in my opinion!
David Brown