Death Education (DeEd) is a form of reflection about life and death. DeEd has always been practiced by mankind over the course of history (Fonseca & Testoni, 2012). For centuries, this form of education had been of an informal nature and had belonged to the family system. The contemporary secularized society has brought about a censorship on communication about death, thus forcing to create specific formal educational activities to re-create a language about death-related issues, where concerns about death and dying could be voiced. Therefore, the responsibility for this form of education has been handed down to the school system. The primary aim of death education is that of assisting people in their process of sense-making about death and dying. In order to achieve such a goal, DeEd courses foster a reflection upon existential issues, the ontological representations of death and the cognitions and emotions connected to death and dying. Although DeEd courses at school have a major role, DeEd’s scope is broader and falls within all three levels of prevention: primary, secondary and tertiary (Mrazek & Haggerty, 1994). Primary prevention interventions are a form of memento mori, aimed at creating a space to discuss about and make sense of death, to enhance the awareness of mortality and finitude and therefore possibly enhance life value (Testoni, 2015). Secondary prevention interventions are a form of ars moriendi, as they prompt reflection on death planning, that is on reasoning on what it is a good death and to accompany those who are dying, doing it in such a way as to meet their expectations for a good death. Finally, tertiary prevention interventions are aimed at allowing a healthy transformation from bereavement to grief, thus re-constructing the relationship with the deceased person in such a way as to be able to move on in life and not get suck into pathological forms of grief.
Tertiary prevention interventions engage relationships at all levels, from the most proximal ones, such as family, to the more distal ones that include the community at large (Testoni, 2015). Social support is defined by Froma Walsh (2011) as one of the most important protective factors when it comes to grief process. When appropriate social support is offered to the bereaved person, then the loss can, in time, create space for a posttraumatic growth, that is transforming a negative life experience into one of growth, learning to value their significant relationships and their life more in general and to enhance their spirituality. Relationships and solidarity are very important in grief processing, that is why it is sometimes beneficial for bereaved people to join self-help groups (Testoni, 2015). The importance of solidarity can be also observed in interventions of Death Education at school. When losing one classmate, DeEd courses at school offer the possibility to create a safe space for students to discuss about and slowly process their grief. For instance, in the last few years, two DeEd courses were implemented in high school classes where students had taken their own life (Testoni et al., 2018; Testoni et al., 2021). Such interventions lowered participants’ death anxiety, helped them move from an ontological representation of death as annihilation to passage toward some other dimension, enhanced their spirituality and their sense of meaning in life. Creative arts therapies are a useful tool in grief processing, as creative arts create a safe space where therapist and client can make sense of what has happened and co-construct a new narrative (Bat-Or & Garti, 2018). Among arts therapies, the literature supports especially the employment of psychodrama (Testoni et al., 2018; Testoni et al., 2019). Psychodrama is based on the dramatic representation of a challenging personal experience and it enhances creativity and spontaneity to solve it in a new, creative way (Moreno, 1953). Psychodramatists recognize psychodrama as a powerful instrument to help clients in their grief processing (Testoni et al., 2019). Professionals claim that the therapeutic action of the group and the surplus reality, and, more specifically the techniques of role reversal with the representation of the lost person or situation with the auxiliary ego, the empty chair, the double and the genodrama are very helpful in the processing of grief, as they allow bereaved people to create a dialog with their deceased beloved ones to finally let them go and resume investing in their future.
References
Bat-Or, M., & Garti, D. (2018). Art therapist’s perceptions of the role of the art medium in the treatment of bereaved clients in art therapy. Death Studies, 43(3), 193-203. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1445138
Fonseca, L. M., & Testoni, I. (2012). The emergence of thanatology and current practice in death education. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 64(2), 157-169. https://doi.org/10.2190/om.64.2.d
Moreno, J. L. (1953). Who Shall Survive? Foundations of Sociometry, Group Psychotherapy and Socio-Drama. Beacon House
Mrazek, P. J. & Haggerty, R. J. (1994). New directions in definitions. In Mrazek & Haggerty (Ed.) Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research (pp. 19-27). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/2139
Testoni, I. (2015). L’ultima nascita. Bollati Boringhieri Editore
Testoni, I., Cichellero, S., Kirk, K., Cappelletti, V., & Cecchini, C. (2019). When death enters the theater of psychodrama: Perspectives and strategies of Psychodramatists. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 24(5-6), 516-532. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2018.1548996
Testoni, I., Ronconi, L., Palazzo, L., Galgani, M., Stizzi, A., & Kirk, K. (2018). Psychodrama and Moviemaking in a death education course to work through a case of suicide among high school students in Italy. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00441
Testoni, I., Ronconi, L., Biancalani, G., Zottino, A., & Wieser, M. A. (2021). My future: Psychodrama and meditation to improve well-being through the elaboration of traumatic loss among Italian high school students. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.544661
Walsh, F. (2011). Strenghtening family resilience (2nd Ed.). The Guilford Press
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