Group Counselling Approaches to Managing Grief Among Orphaned Students in Secondary Schools in Edo State

This study evaluates the effectiveness of group counselling approaches in managing grief among orphaned secondary school students in Edo State, South South Nigeria. The loss of one or both parents during adolescence constitutes a major bereavement event with documented impacts on academic performance, emotional regulation, and social functioning. Yet systematic grief counselling for orphaned students in Nigerian secondary schools remains rare. The study employs a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design, involving 90 orphaned SS1 and SS2 students from eight secondary schools in Benin City and Oredo Local Government Area. The intervention group received twelve sessions of bereavement-focused group counselling. The Texas Revised Inventory of Grief and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used as outcome instruments. Data were analysed using analysis of covariance. Findings indicate that students in the group counselling condition showed significant reductions in unresolved grief symptoms and improvements in emotional regulation and prosocial behaviour compared to the control group. Students valued the normalisation of grief experiences and peer mutual support facilitated by the group format. Facilitator warmth and cultural sensitivity in discussing death and loss within Edo cultural frameworks were identified as key enabling factors. The Edo State Ministry of Education is advised to equip school counsellors with bereavement counselling competencies and to establish structured group counselling programmes targeting orphaned and bereaved students in all public secondary schools. Keywords: group counselling, grief management, orphaned students, secondary school, Edo State.