ABSTRACT
The ultimate goal of the exercise is to harness resilience in patients and their families so that they can continue to live with their loss or onset of the illness, their grief associated with the loss of health and their changed lives as a consequence. Families tend to revert to their usual coping strategies and styles, which might be maladaptive, with the aim of achieving equilibrium within self and within the family. Working on her own at the same time, Jenny drew the Virgin Island in a grayish tone. The Virgin Island, as an experiential and imagery exercise, is useful for clients who have difficulties getting in touch with the personal aspects of their loss and grief. The classic transactional model of stress and coping by Lazarus and Folkman introduced the concepts of emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies for adapting to a significant life stressor such as a life-limiting illness.
