Session 1: Introduction

• Getting to know each other

• Negotiating the process

• Building trust and rapport

• Establishing values and safety

Session 2: Acknowledging the grief and loss

• Acknowledging and sharing aspects of grief

• Learning more about the grief process and different styles of grieving

• Learning about and sharing strategies for managing grief

Session 3: Emotional responses and coping

• Identifying, acknowledging and sharing emotions (i.e. anger, sadness, fear, guilt)

• Learning more about managing strong emotions

• Learning about and sharing health ways to express and manage emotions

Session 4: Cognitive responses, living with why and coping

• Identifying, acknowledging and sharing recurring thoughts (e.g. why???)

• Learning more about making sense of suicide and managing unhelpful thoughts

• Learning about and sharing healthy ways to express thoughts and manage thinking

Session 5: Social responses, impact and support

• Identifying, acknowledging and sharing how suicide has affected people and their family/whānau socially

• Learning more about the social impact of suicide, stigma and supporting others

• Learning more about and sharing ways to strengthen, repair and build new relationships

Session 6: Healing, remembering rituals and connections

• Identifying and sharing how people accommodate grief, adjust to loss and have begun to heal

• Learning more about rituals, ways of letting go of pain and holding on to memories and connections with loved ones.

• Sharing stories about loved ones and how people want to remember them

Session 7: Looking ahead, moving forward

• Identifying, acknowledging and sharing how grief and loss changes over time

• Learning more about stories of suffering, growth, and survivorship

• Learning more about and sharing ways people can stay hopeful and resilient going forward

Session 8: Closure, reflection and feedback

• Bring the group to a close, reflecting on experiences with others

• Collecting feedback to help the development of Waves

• Collecting a message of hope for other survivors