Our Mission
Wonders & Worries helps children and their families cope when a parent or caregiver has a chronic or life-threatening illness, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Alzheimers, etc. Our professional services are always provided free of charge.
Wonders & Worries
The impact of a parent’s serious illness on a child can be profound. It can affect their mental health, family functioning, school performance, friendships, growth and development, and overall adjustment. Typically, children in these situations can experience behavioral changes, physical complaints, anxiety, decreased use of effective coping skills, and changes in sleeping and eating patterns.
Wonders & Worries counsels children in understanding the situation and handling these potential negative effects. We give parents the resources and support to help their family work through such a crisis.
Our Services
All Wonders & Worries services are provided by Certified Child Life Specialists and other counseling professionals who are specially trained to help children and their families understand and manage challenging life events and stressful health care experiences. Currently, we offer:
Individual Sessions – one-on-one support for children ages 4-18.
Group Sessions – A six week group program. The group will meet once a week for 1 ½ hours to help children ages 5+ meet other children coping with similar experiences of family illness.
Wonders and Worries individual and group services are offered at both Horizons Grief Center and in our local schools.
What We Do
Our therapeutic programs help children affected by a parent’s serious illness by:
• Giving an age-appropriate understanding of the illness, its treatments and side effects
• Facilitating expressions of feelings related to the changes in the family
• Identifying individual coping skills to help ease feelings of sadness, anger, and fear
Why
The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 25% of the 1.4 million adults diagnosed with cancer this year will have a child age 18 or younger. Research shows that a parent’s serious illness can profoundly impact their children, and that stress within families is even higher prior to a parent’s death than following death. A 2006 study found that 29% of children of cancer patients experience symptoms of post traumatic stress (PTS) syndrome in the first year of the illness, with an additional group experiencing increased PTS symptoms as time wears on and they have more time to ‘fret’ about the parent’s disease. Additional research indicates that psychosocial support and illness education provided to children at an age-appropriate level significantly helps children, eases stress within the family, improves parent’s depressed mood,
and increases the parent’s ability to focus on treatment and well-being.
Support Group Offerings
Wonders & Worries Spring Support Groups 2012
These groups are for children ages 5 and older and teens. During the six sessions the group topics will include illness education, expression of feelings, coping strategies and moving forward with hope. A light supper is provided.
Date: February 23 - March 30 (Thursdays)
Time: 6:00 – 7:30pm
Location: Cancer Centers of NC at Macon Pond, 4101 Macon Pond Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
Cancer Group
Groups are scheduled on a regular basis, please call for dates and times.
Six week support group for children and teens who have an adult family member with cancer.
Time: 6:00 – 7:30pm
Location: Cancer Centers of NC at Macon Pond, 4101 Macon Pond Road, Raleigh, NC 27607
Alzheimer’s and Dementia-related illness
Groups are scheduled on a regular basis, please call for dates and times.
Six week support group for children and teens with an adult family member with Alzheimer’s or related dementia diagnosis.
Time: 6 – 7:30pm
Location: Woodland Terrace-A Kisco Senior Living Community
300 Kildaire Woods Drive Cary, N.C.
Contact Information
For more information or to obtain Wonders & Worries services please contact our Child Life Specialist at (919) 719-6767 or by emailing horizons@wondersandworries.org.
