OBU's Kemp MFT Clinic offering grief support groups for students, employees
The Kemp Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic at Oklahoma Baptist University is launching multiple grief support groups for students and employees on the University’s Shawnee campus. The groups began meeting the week of March 21 and will last through the remainder of the spring semester. The groups are designed as safe and confidential support groups for those who have experienced grief and loss from death, divorce, incarceration, deployment, deportation, and/or foster or adoptive care.
A group for faculty and staff will meet each Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Stavros Hall room 204. LaShane Hill, director of the Kemp MFT Clinic, will lead the employee group.
Students have three options available throughout the week. An in-person student group will meet each Wednesday, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Shawnee Hall room 118. A virtual group will meet each Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. A second in-person group for students will meet each Friday morning from 10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m., also in Shawnee Hall room 118.
Employees and students interested in joining these groups may call the Kemp MFT Clinic at (405) 585-4530 or email mftclinic@okbu.edu.
The grief groups were made possible by a grant received through Calm Waters Center for Children and Families, a non-profit group based in Oklahoma City. Through this grant, Hill and several master’s degree students in OBU’s Marriage and Family Therapy program received specialized grief training in order to facilitate these groups. Calm Waters is a leading provider of grief support services for children and families throughout central Oklahoma using research-based curriculum and programming. Through the “Grief Reach Grant,” Calm Waters has been able to extend their efforts to reach students on college campuses.
Hill noted the importance of processing grief and loss in a healthy way, especially given the state of the world today.
“Our world has been flooded with experiences of horrendous tragedies, both personal traumas and as spectators, and I am excited to offer a safe, supportive space to just have the conversations within a community that cares,” Hill said. “I think about the decision that many of our students, faculty and staff have made to advance educationally amid global turmoil, and for some this choice came with the sacrifice of being away from their families as they experience personal loss. In the grief groups, it is acceptable and welcomed to share your experience, and others want to hear what you want to share.”
The Kemp Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic provides affordable, high quality therapeutic services to individuals, couples and families of the OBU and greater Shawnee communities. The Kemp MFT Clinic is an educational training facility and its services are provided by graduate therapists under faculty supervision in the OBU Marriage and Family Therapy program.
OBU student therapists work with clients in a way that incorporates mind, body, faith and community. MFT therapists utilize an adaptive approach to help clients find positive changes and connect with support systems in meaningful ways. MFT therapists believe that clients may find healing by approaching presenting problems through a holistic lens that sees opportunities for growth in clients’ faith, relationships, mental health and physical health.
Kemp MFT Clinic therapists work with a variety of client concerns, including but not limited to relationship concerns, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, couple conflict, self-esteem, work and school stress, blended families, life transitions and more.
OBU students and employees receive an allotment of free sessions each year, with students receiving discounted rates beyond their free allotment. For details about the Kemp Clinic or to inquire about the grief support groups, visit www.okbu.edu/mft-clinic or call (405) 585-4530.
This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: OBU's Kemp MFT Clinic offering grief support groups for students, employees
