ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an example of Sibonye and his family, which occupied a part of each meeting, has been quoted at length to illustrate the possible functions of such a group, but also to serve as a focus for discussing the professional and ethical implications of this way of working. The account, though accurate in itself, gives an oversimplified picture of the much richer but more complicated and at times troubled experience of the four group meetings that comprised this pilot scheme. The chapter discusses the fact that response to shock and response to bereavement, though showing common features, also differed in individuals, and points out that therefore some people might need to withdraw, while others might find work—particularly work with children—to be therapeutic. It presents a description which includes some specific examples of how the prolonged reaction to trauma and bereavement might cause difficul-ties in the work situation for adults if colleagues did not understand this.
