Developing a Culturally Informed Group Counselling Model for Bereaved Parents in Southern Nigeria

The loss of a child is among the most devastating bereavement experiences, and culturally appropriate group counselling support for bereaved parents in Southern Nigerian communities requires professional development that respects indigenous grief frameworks while incorporating evidence-based therapeutic elements. This study developed a culturally informed group counselling model for bereaved parents in South South and South West Nigeria. A model development approach combining systematic literature review, expert practitioner interviews, and focus group consultations with 18 bereaved parents across Rivers, Delta, and Oyo States was employed. The literature review identified meaning reconstruction, narrative therapy, and grief integration (as distinct from grief resolution) as the most applicable theoretical frameworks. Parent focus groups identified cultural dimensions of grief including communal mourning rituals, naming and memory practices for deceased children, spiritual interpretations of child loss, and stigma in some communities around stillbirth and infant death as requiring specific integration into the counselling model. The developed 12-session group model encompasses psychoeducation on grief processes, narrative memory work for the deceased child, cultural ritual integration sessions, spiritual resource exploration, couple relationship support components, and community reintegration planning. Facilitator training guidelines and participant workbook materials are provided. Expert review by ten bereavement counsellors and two traditional cultural consultants confirmed cultural appropriateness and therapeutic coherence. Pilot delivery with one bereavement group in Port Harcourt is recommended as the first evaluation step.

Keywords: bereavement counselling, group counselling model, bereaved parents, South South Nigeria, cultural counselling