Making Ofrenda With Our Clients
To be done for Day of the Dead or Halloween
From: Multicultural Counseling Workbook: Exercises, Worksheets & Games to Build Rapport with Diverse Clients, By Leslie Korn, PhD
Client Exercise
An ofrenda is a collection of images, objects, and foods that are placed on an altar during the Dia de los Muertos celebration, which is celebrated in Mexico and many other Latin American countries. Ofrendas are created in order to remember and honor deceased loved ones. This is also the original meaning of Halloween. This exercise will show you how to help a client construct his or her own ofrenda as an opportunity to grieve in a culturally congruent manner and to share this process with you as the therapist.
When
While ofrendas are typically made each year on November 2 during Dia de los Muertos, your client can create an altar any time of year.
Who
This exercise can be used with children, with or without a parent or other adult.
Benefits of This Exercise...
Constructing an ofrenda allows for a non-confrontational conversation about death and grief. Ofrenda making also adds in feelings of appreciation and love to the grieving process.
Materials
Small table and tablecloth or fabric
Traditional elements (include any or all):
- Candles (1 for each person being honored)
- Glass of water
- Incense
- Marigolds or other brightly colored flowers (fresh, dried, or paper)
- Favorite foods of the deceased
- Framed photograph of the person being honored
- Personal items of the deceased (jewelry, watch, handkerchief, etc)
Ceramics and woven baskets
Explain to the client that they can make the ofrenda at home or in your office. If they make the ofrenda at home, ask them to take a photograph to show you. This exercise is intended for a client of any culture or background.
Directions
1. Find the proper location for the ofrenda—a small table pushed against a wall is ideal. Cover the table with a piece of fabric or cloth.
2. Place photographs of the deceased in the center of the table. Make sure that each person being honored has a candle.
3. Place personal items of the deceased (jewelry, watch, etc.) on the table. Add candles, incense and incense holder, flowers, foods, glass of water in the front and center of the table.
Next Steps
You may use the different items on the ofrenda to ask questions about those items. Some examples:
- Tell me about your grandmother?
- Tell me about this item and what it means to you?
- What did it mean to your grandmother?
- Are these some foods that she loved?
- Tell me about a time you recall enjoying a meal with her? Or a party?
Conclusion
Engaging in art to elicit and explore feelings is a culturally congruent approach to examining and sharing difficult emotions with people of all ages and within all cultures. All cultures and spiritual practices find ways to express loss and reconnection with loved ones who have passed.
Leslie Korn, PhD, MPH, LMHC, ACS, FNTP, BCTMB, is a renowned integrative medicine clinician and educator specializing in the use of nutritional, herbal and culinary medicine for the treatment of trauma and emotional and chronic physical illness. She is known for her dynamism and humor providing clients effective alternatives to psychotropics. She completed her graduate education in the department of psychiatry and public health at Harvard Medical School and her life training in the jungle of Mexico where she lived and worked alongside local healers for over 25 years. She directed a naturopathic medicine and training clinic facilitating health, culinary and fitness retreats. She is licensed and certified in nutritional therapy, mental health counseling, and bodywork (Polarity and Cranial Sacral and medical massage therapies) and is an approved clinical supervisor. She introduced somatic therapies for complex trauma patients in outpatient psychiatry at Harvard Medical school in 1985 and served Acupuncture and faculty at National College of Naturopathic Medicine.
She is the author of the seminal book on the body and complex trauma: Rhythms of Recovery: Integrative Medicine for PTSD and Complex Trauma, 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2012, 2023); The Brainbow Blueprint: A Clinical Guide to Integrative Medicine and Nutrition for Mental Well Being (PESI, 2023), Nutrition Essentials for Mental Health (W.W. Norton, 2016), Eat Right Feel Right: Over 80 Recipes and Tips to Improve Mood, Sleep, Attention & Focus (PESI, 2017); Multicultural Counseling Workbook: Exercises, Worksheets & Games to Build Rapport with Diverse Clients (PESI, 2015); The Good Mood Kitchen (W.W. Norton, 2017); and Natural Woman: Herbal Remedies for Radiant Health at Every Age and Stage of Life (Shambhala, 2019). She was a founder of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, a Fullbright scholar in Herbal Medicine and an NIH-funded scientist, in mind/body medicine. She is an approved clinical supervisor and is the research director at the Center for World Indigenous Studies where she designs culinary and herbal medicine programs with tribal communities engaged in developing integrative medicine programs.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Leslie Korn maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. Dr. Korn receives royalties as a published author. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Leslie Korn is a member of the Nutritional Therapy Association and Integrative Medicine for the Underserved.
