Grieving together

Training grieving together

Getting over the loss of a parent, partner, sister, or brother can be a daunting task. Grief and loss can also be experienced in the context of health issues, being away from your homeland or loss of future perspective. Students who deal with a loss can benefit from extra attention to cope with their situation.

We offer students a safe space to grieve by creating a student support group, led by the university chaplain. Students will realize that they are not alone in this process and will find support from their fellow students, who are in a similar situation. They learn to rely on their bodies and emotions in dealing with grief and loss. The goal of the training is not to acquire a particular (philosophical or religious) hypothesis for life, but to learn a method for integrating grief into one’s entire human experience.

Aim of the training

Grief is a natural and meaningful reaction to experiencing loss. Finding support in a small group setting can make the process more manageable. In this training, you will get a better understanding of the process of grieving and how this applies to your own situation. We create a safe space for you to give room to your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a light and non-judgmental way.

Set-up of the training

In this training, we will cover the following topics:

  • Meeting 1 – Looking for Comfort, Asking for Help
  • Meeting 2 – Feelings of Mourning in Body and Mind
  • Meeting 3 – Curse or Resource: Sorrow’s Significance
  • Meeting 4 – Resilience and Hope

The training will consist of four meetings, which will take place every two weeks. Before the start of the training, you will be invited for a short individual intake with the chaplain, so you can share your individual story before the start of the training itself.

Working method

The training consists of four meetings of 1.5 hours each in a small group setting (4 – 10 participants). Participants are expected to attend each session. The sessions are given by Fr Michael Peeters, the university chaplain, who is a Catholic priest. Maranatha is ‘his’ church, therefore the sessions are given in its meeting room. To be sure, the sessions do not presume any specific religious background and do not intend to impose any ideas on anybody. A safe space is provided to stand in a human way in front of loss, without censoring anything, giving space to what happens in us; making use of our own natural resources and of the shared experience of each participant, including the chaplain.

Training information in short

Target groupAll students, registered at Tilburg University (any study phase)
Duration4 sessions of 1.5 hours each on March 7 and 21 and April 11 and 25, 2024. Time: 15:45 - 17:15. 
Where?Maranatha, Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 19 (next to the Sports Center)
TrainerMichiel Peeters
CostsFree of charge
Number of participantsAt least 4, no more than 10
Language of instructionEnglish

Interested?

The current training group, which started on March 7, is closed for registrations. The next training group will start in Autumn 2024. So if you wish to receive further information about future editions of this training, please send an e-mail to the course coordinator, Ms. Zarrea Plaisier.  

E-mail: z.plaisier@tilburguniversity.edu