CSSR Lunchtime Seminar: Wendy Lessing and Lira Greeff

The Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa (IDCPPA) and the Centre for Social Sciences Research at the University of Cape Town invites you to join us for a seminar on 23 May 2023 presented by Wendy Lessing and Lira Greeff.

For this seminar, Wendy Lessing and Lira Greeff will be discussing the Khululeka work on the Abangane Grief Support Curriculum in their seminar “The Abangane Grief Support Curriculum: an evidence-based psychosocial support programme for children and adolescents”

About the Seminar:

Abangane remains the only South African grief support group model that shows clear published and peer reviewed evidence of impact. An independent Randomised Control Trial found that teen girls, who participated in the Khululeka grief support group intervention, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in their mental health compared to the wait-listed participants, including a decrease in problematic grief, depression symptoms and attention problems. These findings were published in The Lancet, 24 April 2017.
The Abangane programme offers psychological support to bereaved girls aged 9-19 years and, since 2022, to boys aged 9-12. Abangane aims to help participants understand grief and loss, process their grief and gain closure, develop skills to cope with difficult emotions, and establish life planning skills. The programme also helps them to gain support from others, including other group members and trusted loved ones in their lives. The programme consists of 8 scripted sessions in a closed group led by two trained facilitators. It is highly interactive, with group members participating in activities guided by the principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and include contextually relevant scenarios, as well as discussions about different cultural rituals and traditions surrounding death. To allow for the building of new coping skills and habits, the sessions include group discussions, pair/group work, and home practice.

Speakers:

Wendy Lessing is the Director of Khululeka with many years’ experience as a Programme Manager and Fundraiser in the development and academic sectors.

Lira Greef is the Khululeka Programme Manager and Abangane Master Trainer. She is a qualified registered Social Worker with 25 years’ experience working with children and youth as well as in the development and facilitation of training curricula for the government and NPO sectors.

 23 May 2023
 12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room