The Continuing Bonds Toolkit
About the toolkit
The toolkit presents an innovative resource. It uses history, archaeology (examples from the past) and ethnography (diverse experiences from around the world) to normalise talking about death, dying and bereavement. Through exploring the past, we can see the vast variety of ways that people have dealt with death, dying and loss across time and place. The toolkit materials provide a ‘safe’ way in to opening these topics, because the archaeological and ethnographic examples are fascinating, yet crucially, are removed from our modern daily experiences. This historical ‘distancing’ enables a perspective which helps break the ice, prompting discussion, and reflection, on contemporary, professional, and personal experiences.
How to use the toolkit
The toolkit has a dual purpose: it is designed as a resource to aid Continuing Professional Development (CPD), particularly for counsellors, therapists, and anyone working with those facing loss; it can also be used directly with clients (at your professional discretion), either worked through with a therapist, or as self-guided tasks.
The toolkit has been designed by an interdisciplinary team including specialists in archaeology, psychology, counselling, and bereavement, and with educators and practitioners, and those experiencing bereavement.
The toolkit is modular, meaning you can select the areas more appropriate for your CPD or for your client. It is designed with Bloom’s learning taxonomy in mind (Anderson and Krathwohl 2001), which sees a development within each module from acquiring and understanding knowledge, through to deeper analysis and engagement, with suggested tasks which enable you to create your own resources if you wish to.
Continuing Bonds 