EMDR & Mourning Rituals:
EMDR sessions have a ritual meaning for many clients (Drs. Joany Springs). A ritual is a set of performed actions, with a set of representational values. EMDR like rituals help with the recognition of deeper symbolic significance of a loved one by channeling expressions of experiences via emotional, physical, images, sensations and thoughts. Rituals allows for the past to be the past, and empowers a sense of control and safeness. They provide containment and protection of overwhelming feelings and thoughts. It provides the opportunity for acceptance and forgiveness that creates inner-peace. Rituals provide a sense of truth and reality to relationships. Therapeutically rituals are cathartic and allow for the releasing of pent up emotions. Rituals have a beginning, a middle and an end, and a clear focus to help redirect ambivalent thoughts and feelings. It helps to reaffirm the relationships among the living, and facilitates the expression and reflection of shared experiences and meaning.
To help the grieving process, healing can be facilitated in 3-ritualistic directions:
1] Separation Rituals: The rituals for separation tenderly focuses the mourning person on the PRESENT. Giving every moment a special mindful consideration. Living every experience with the intention of moving forward with life. To exit into abundance. For example, praying in the morning in a certain chair - at a certain room, or showers being a symbolic ritual of letting go. Separation Rituals helps a person to respect the resistance and gently instills the power of possibilities.
2] Transitional Rituals: The rituals exercised here are to facilitate the movement of one’s identity or state of being to another. It facilitates emotional, intellectual, spiritual, physical and psychological growth. The ritual should reflect the intentions of the transition. This ritual could comprise of the simple movements of furniture around the home, or a ceremony with a beginning, middle and an end to symbolically signify the past, the present and the future.
3] Incorporation Rituals: At this stage, one is encouraged to create new rituals. New traditions. To imagine and consider a future template. It can be a consolidation of rituals from the past with the ones newly created. It is a union of an honorable past and gracious respect one’s future. Of Attachments and Detachments.
Other useful sites for Rituals:
http://www.tassos-oak.com/online/05ritual.html
http://www.lifebanc.org/donor-family-services/grief-rituals.aspx
