"Once in a generation, a book comes along that alters the way society views a topic. When Children Grieve is an essential primer for parents and others who interact with children on a regular basis." — Bernard McGrane, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Chapman University and U.C. Irvine The first—and definitive—guide to helping children really deal with loss from the authors of the The Grief Recovery Handbook Following deaths, divorces, pet loss, or the confusion of major relocation, many adults tell their children “don’t feel bad.” In fact, say the authors of the bestselling The Grief Recovery Handbook, feeling bad or sad is precisely the appropriate emotion attached to sad events. Encouraging a child to bypass grief without completion can cause unseen long-term damage. When Children Grieve helps parents break through the misinformation that surrounds the topic of grief. It pinpoints the six major myths that hamper children in adapting to life’s inevitable losses. Practical and compassionate, it guides parents in creating emotional safety and spells out specific actions to help children move forward successfully.

Drawing upon extensive interviews and assessments of school-age children who have lost a parent to death, this book offers a richly textured portrait of the mourning process in children. The volume presents major findings from the Child Bereavement Study and places them in the context of previous research, shedding new light on both the wide range of normal variation in children's experience of grief and the factors that put bereaved children at risk. The book also compares parentally bereaved children with those who have suffered loss of a sibling to death, or of a parent through divorce, exploring similarities and differences in these experiences of loss. A concluding section explores the clinical implications of the findings and includes a review of intervention models and activities, as well as a screening instrument designed to help identify high-risk bereaved children.

This fully-updated second edition of Grief in Children provides an overview of children's understanding of death at different ages and outlines how the adults around them can best help them cope. The author provides guidance on handling loss and bereavement at school and discusses the value of bereavement groups and support for child and caregiver.

First published in 1984. A common myth is that that young children (say around three years of age) do not understand death or give the death of friend, pet, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, other relative, or give it a Raggedy-Ann doll meaning. However, research has indicated that they do. If it is difficult for us to think about our death, it is the author’s hypothesis that to think of the death of our children is an even greater difficulty. We dread the thought of our children suffering pain, dying, and death. Similarly the thought of our children suffering grief is difficult for us to comprehend. Helping Children Cope With Grief is more universal to more than the area of grief and is a valuable tool for parents, teachers, and counselors when their goal is to develop happier, more loving children.

A therapist shares her memoir of survival after the death of her infant daughter and the process she developed to cope with her grief. How do you make sense of loss and tragedy? After the sudden and devastating loss of her infant daughter, Lily Dulan (a marriage and family therapist, psychotherapist, and certified yoga teacher) meditated, prayed, and ruminated on the only thing she had left—her baby girl’s name. In Lily’s courage to address and move through her pain, she developed a combination of proven psychological modalities, twelve-step wellness tools, spiritual healing applications, meditations, and ancient yoga. She calls this self-help process “The Name Work”. In her heartfelt memoir, Lily shares her healing journey and her method for unleashing the power in names and giving them special meaning to help move through the grief process in a thoughtful and transformative way. The Name Work method teaches you how to assign special meaning and qualities to the letters in names—a deceased loved one’s or your own—and how to create positive affirmations for each letter’s attribute. It is a tangible and personal self-healing method for whatever obstacles arise; a unique, new wellness tool for healing and self-discovery. Also includes: Affirmations, self-guided questions, meditations, and practices An A-Z dictionary of qualities to help create your own affirmations Life hacks for addictive behaviors and moving though trauma and loss A first-hand account of the author’s personal healing journey Praise for Giving Grief Meaning “Such a wise, gentle book, born of great loss, on healing, grief and transformation.” —Anne Lamott, New York Times–bestselling author of Dusk, Night, Dawn “Lily Dulan had to bear the unbearable, a loss that is every parent’s nightmare. This book relays her journey from the valley of excruciating pain to a peaceful life on the other side of it. She began the journey not knowing if peace would ever be hers again. She was rewarded for each step she took in trying to find it, discovering keys that indeed unlocked the way for her and which now she can share with others. For those still in earlier phases of grief, this book illuminates some mysterious ways a broken heart can heal.” —Marianne Williamson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Return to Love

Parents, teachers, and other adults can learn through this concise and caring guide to how children and adolescents grieve after someone they love dies. Exploring the six reconciliation needs of mourning, this helpful resource recognizes that grieving children are especially deserving of an emotional environment of love and acceptance. Including a historical perspective on children and death, this handbook helps adults recognize the importance of empathy toward a grieving child, and provides guidelines for involving children in funeral services. These suggestions can help anyone who wants to help young people better cope with grief so that they can go on to become emotionally healthy adults themselves.

When a loved one dies, children are faced with a kaleidoscope of feelings, thoughts, and questions. Struggling with these issues can be overwhelming without guidance, support, and creative forms of expression. This bereavement book contains simple, effective activities to help children and parents communicate about death and the grieving process. Through these activities, children will learn how to grow and thrive after the loss of a loved one.