Children and Grief (Part Two

By: Betty Dangler
Saturday, June 25, 2022

Children and Grief (Part Two)

Grief is a journey for children as well as adults. They can not go around it. They need to go through if and experience it. Here are more suggestions for helping children through grief.

Stay Close to Children

Children need routine and stability. Family is very important to children, especially when they experience loss. It is important that they don’t feel abandoned. You and other family members can help to provide this environment for them.

Just do ordinary things, i.e., having snacks, watching TV, bike rides, cooking and baking together. Prepare a meal or bake a dessert together that your loved one enjoyed.

Grief Support Groups

There are Grief Support Groups that are designed to work with children who have experienced loss. It also helps children to know that there are other children besides themselves who have

experienced loss. With trained professionals, these organizations provide a safe environment for children to express their grief and start the healing process. Good Grief and Imagine are two of these organizations in our area.

Share Your Grief

It is okay to let a child see your tears when someone you love passes. It is one of the myths that, when a loved one passes, we need to be strong for the family. Sharing your grief with a child lets them know it is ok to feel sad and you want to share your feelings with them. This will lay a healthy foundation for them as to how they will deal with grief in the future.  

Volunteer Together

Look for opportunities to help those that are less fortunate. When you help others, you are helping yourself also which contributes to the healing process.

Find Comfort

Share your faith and beliefs with your family. Acknowledge that death is difficult, but your faith gives you strength. If you find comfort in prayer, then pray, even pray and/or go to religious services together as family.

Help children realize that the loss of a loved one will always be with them. If they try and keep their feelings inside, it will set them up for future negative experiences and unfavorable outcomes. What we are trying to do is to give them the skills to process the grief and to cope with this major change in their lives.

 

 

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