[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/warrior-way\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2015\/01\/jamie_euniecropped-logo.jpg” alt=”Eunie & Jamie on Winona Campus” admin_label=”Fullwidth Image” _builder_version=”3.0.87″ animation=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding_tablet=”50px|0|50px|0″ transparent_background=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
Eunie is from Winona, MN<\/span> Jamie is a ’98 Alumni from Winona, MN<\/span> <\/p>\n “When we lose someone it changes everything: our relationships, our community, who we are and how we see the world. Often there\u2019s not a lot of time spent talking about that change or exploring new ways of integrating the loss into your life.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n You might think that spending a Saturday thinking, speaking, writing and drawing about grief and death would be a very depressing event, but counsellors Eunie Alsaker and Jamie Sanders see it as way to heal from the loss of a loved one. That\u2019s why they called their day-long retreat for grieving Winona area high school students a Healing Retreat rather than a Grief Retreat\u2014and I agree with them. As they told me more about the retreat and all their creative ways of working through painful emotions, I found myself wishing that a program like this was available during the times I\u2019d lost loved ones. Fortunately, the Healing Retreat isn\u2019t a one-time deal. Thanks to a grant from the Elizabeth Callender King Foundation and assistance from LiveWell Winona, this Healing Retreat for teenagers was only the first in a series of retreats for people of all ages, a series that Eunie and Jamie hope will continue to grow and help those in the Winona community find peace and healing.<\/p>\n Tell me about the Healing Retreat. What do you do to make it happen? Eunie:<\/strong><\/span> The idea began a year and a half ago when I had a conversation with a board member from the Hospice program about available support for teens after the deaths of two high school students. I knew that larger communities offer experiential one-day retreats for people who are grieving and, since I\u2019m currently on sabbatical, I adopted this as my project for the year. Jamie and I co-facilitated the first event on Nov. 15. This day for teenagers that was very experiential in nature and provided a variety of ways for healing including artwork, journaling, yoga, physical relaxation and visualization as well as talking and listening to music.<\/p>\n Jamie:<\/strong><\/span> Right, we wanted to provide an opportunity for teens to fully experience their grief, learn some ways of integrating their grief in to their lives and be connected to others while doing it. Also, grieving has such a profound impact on our lives. When we lose someone it changes everything: our relationships, our community, who we are and how we see the world. Often there\u2019s not a lot of time spent talking about that change or exploring new ways of integrating the loss into your life, life, and this healing retreat offers that opportunity for people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How did the Healing Retreat go? Jamie:<\/strong><\/span> Well, I saw seven heavily mourning teenagers who also had to maintain their grades to get into the college and work long hours in order afford what they or their families needed. They had lost parents, grandparents, siblings and dear friends and were stressed to the maximum in this very emotional time and not able to talk about it because as a culture we don\u2019t want to talk about death. But here they had this great free space to talk their grief and loss. I asked them the names of the people they had lost, the teenagers appeared relieved and even excited to say those names because so often people stop talking about the people close to you. They talked a lot feeling relaxed and there certainly were connections made between teens who didn\u2019t know each other previously. We were able to talk about other hard topics like suicide and pain but also able to laugh and find a lot of comfort and enjoyment in each other.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What is your favorite part about the Healing Retreat? Jamie:<\/strong><\/span> I love connecting with people, so my favorite part was the connections we made and the connections\u2014which came in the form of laughing, talking, honoring loved ones and being vulnerable with their emotions\u2014 the teens made with each other.<\/p>\n Eunie:<\/strong><\/span> I would have to say the same thing. In all of the work that I do, it\u2019s the connection with another person that is the most rewarding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What attracted you to this particular way of helping grieving teens? Eunie:<\/strong><\/span> One reason we wanted to do this is because there isn\u2019t anything like it in the community. There\u2019s one-on-one counseling and there\u2019s crisis-response immediately after a death, but that\u2019s really it for teens. And we wanted to do a day-long retreat because grief does impact us on all levels and we wanted to give teens tools on emotional, physical, spiritual, social dimensions in life and be able to address their grief. I personally was interested in the topic was that I have two sons and each lost a close friend to suicide while in high school. There was a lot of support for these teens immediately, but as a parent I really wanted more so I thought \u201cLet\u2019s create something more.\u201d Also, in my work at WSU, I have developed a passion over the years for young adults who have lost a family member or a close friend and are away at school. I find that that work is very inspiring for me and the connections are lasting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How did you two decide to collaborate on this project? Eunie:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 When Jamie was in graduate school, she contacted me to do an interview on how I use creative arts in counseling, so I knew she had an interest in using creative arts and I also knew of her reputation for working well with groups and teens. So those were really the three things I thought were important in a partner for this project.<\/p>\n Jamie:<\/strong><\/span> Eunie was one of many professionals I interviewed while working on my master\u2019s thesis and we discovered we had a great connection. So when she asked me \u201cHow are you willing to help with this project?\u201d I said \u201cI\u2019ll do anything and everything!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Do you have any plans for future service projects? Eunie:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 Yeah, I want to expand the Healing Retreat program. We are going to have one in February for young adults and are planning another event for teenagers in the spring. We\u2019d also like to do one for adults, but don\u2019t have a date yet. Because we want to continue to offering retreats, we\u2019re looking for grants or other funding-sources so that this can continue at no cost to the participants in the community for many years to come. I want to be involved in the foreseeable future, but I\u2019d like the program to be sustainable even after I\u2019m no longer part of it.<\/p>\n Jamie:<\/strong><\/span> The two areas I feel most passionate about is helping people when their lives have been affected by violence or by a death. I will continue figuring out creative ways to meet people where they\u2019re at in those circumstance and supporting them through traumatic events and helping them live wholly and the best they can. I hope to stay involved in the Healing Retreat program because it was a really rewarding experience and the one-day retreat was a creative way of providing counseling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Who has been the biggest influence in your life? Eunie:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 My parents have been the greatest influence in my life. They were very generous people even though they didn\u2019t have a lot of money, and they valued the right things in life like relationships, time, service, family, friends\u2014not things or money. They also were very kind people who demonstrated working to improve your community. I grew up in a small community and you really could have an impact on it. While Winona is certainly bigger, I saw a gap that overlapped with my interests and skills and I knew it was the right thing to do something about it and create these Healing Retreats.<\/p>\n Jamie:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019ve been really lucky to have a lot of influential people in my life. My parents really encouraged that I could make a difference in the world and that I had the abilities and confidence to help others. Having that solid nurturing throughout my life has made me able to reach out to others. But I\u2019ve also had great professors who modeled service and giving within their professional lives, both in undergraduate and graduate classes, and I have wonderful co-workers, who have had devastating things happen in their lives and now they give back to others in similar circumstances by being police officers, victim advocates and therapists. I\u2019m influenced by these people all the time to make sure that I am providing the best care for others who are hurting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you could invite anyone to sit on\u00a0this bench\u00a0and have a conversation, who would it be and what would you talk about?<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Eunie:<\/strong><\/span> If I thought about it longer I might have a different answer, but who came to my mind first was my Grandpa Alsaker, whom I\u2019ve never met. He was born in the 1800s and when he was 14 he left home to work on a fishing boat in the North Seas. Then as a young adult, he came to the US and saw tremendous change until his death in the 1950s. I think it would be fascinating to hear his stories and I\u2019d like for him to know all that\u2019s happened in his family, who his great grandchildren are and what they are doing. I\u2019d also show him some of the changes in our world now, though I\u2019m sure that all the technological advances would be hard for him to understand.<\/p>\n Gretchen:<\/strong><\/span> It\u2019s simple for me. I\u2019d sit down with my sister Ali, she passed away a little over two years ago and it\u2019s certainly another reason why grief is a topic close to my heart. She died tragically and unexpectedly, so I\u2019d like to have one more hour to laugh with her and talk with her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Interviewed and Edited by Elizabeth Meinders ’15<\/span> and photographed by Anna Rae Butler ’15<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n WSU Counseling Services Counselor, 11 years<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\n Counselor for victims of crime or loss (BS in Social Work)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
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