Helping Children Cope With Grief


Book Description

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.




What Do We Tell the Children?


Book Description

One out of seven children will lose a parent before they are 20. The statistics are sobering, but they are also a call for preparedness. However, pastors and counselors of all types are often at a loss when dealing with a grieving child. Talking to adults about death and grief is difficult; it's all the more challenging to talk to children and teens. The stakes are high: grieving children are high-risk for substance abuse, promiscuity, depression, isolation, and suicide. Yet, despite this, most of these kids grow up to be normal or exceptional adults. But their chance to become healthy adults increases with the support of a loving community. Supporting grieving children requires intentionality, open communication, and patience. Rather than avoid all conversations on death or pretend like it never happened, normalizing grief and offering support requires us to be in-tune with kids through dialogue as they grapple with questions of “how” and “why.” When listening to children in grief, we often have to embrace the mystery, offer love and compassion, and stick with the basics. The author says, "We don’t have to answer the why and how for them, but we can assure our children that God is with us as we suffer. We can do so by doing good for others and pointing out all of those moments when someone has done something good for us. I believe that most of the time that’s as far as we will get, and that is okay."




Talking with Children About Loss


Book Description

Through captivating stories and thoughtful analysis, Maria Trozzi explains how to handle the difficult job of talking with children and adolescents about loss, with discussions about: * How children perceive and interpret events such as death, disability, and divorce * Guiding children through the four tasks of mourning * Helping children face funerals, wakes, and memorial services * Children's fears and fantasies: how they express them, and how to address them * Age-appropriate responses to children's questions and concerns * Talking to children about long-term illness, suicide, family or community tragedy, and other special situations * What to do when children won't talk about loss, and when to seek professional help"The wisdom, authenticity, and sheer presence of the author are evident from page one until the end of the beautifully written book. Terms like 'ground-breaking' and 'innovative' have been triviliazed by overuse. In this case they are deserved." --Stan Turecki, M.D., author of The Difficult Child




Still Mine


Book Description




Verbal First Aid


Book Description

Words as Medicine What to say to your children to get them through the bumps, bruises, and crises of childhood. Falling off a bike, having a bad dream, getting stitches...sometimes a kiss isn't enough to make it all better. But what you say to your child in those first moments of pain or fear could make all the difference. Using techniques the authors have taught to doctors, nurses, and first responders, Verbal First Aid(tm) explains how words can be used to promote healing from burns, bruises, nightmares, asthma attacks, and more. It provides scripts and tips on how to short-circuit traumatic memories, sometimes just by speaking a sentence or two. This revolutionary book gives parents the responses they need to immediately stabilize their children's emotions. And these methods will build a foundation of confidence and inner strength that will help kids heal at the deepest level, and weather whatever hardships and difficulties they encounter throughout life.




Confident Parents, Confident Kids


Book Description

Confident Parents, Confident Kids lays out an approach for helping parents—and the kids they love—hone their emotional intelligence so that they can make wise choices, connect and communicate well with others (even when patience is thin), and become socially conscious and confident human beings. How do we raise a happy, confident kid? And how can we be confident that our parenting is preparing our child for success? Our confidence develops from understanding and having a mastery over our emotions (aka emotional intelligence)—and helping our children do the same. Like learning to play a musical instrument, we can fine-tune our ability to skillfully react to those crazy, wonderful, big feelings that naturally arise from our child’s constant growth and changes, moving from chaos to harmony. We want our children to trust that they can conquer any challenge with hard work and persistence; that they can love boundlessly; that they will find their unique sense of purpose; and they will act wisely in a complex world. This book shows you how. With author and educator Jennifer Miller as your supportive guide, you'll learn: the lies we’ve been told about emotions, how they shape our choices, and how we can reshape our parenting decisions in better alignment with our deepest values. how to identify the temperaments your child was born with so you can support those tendencies rather than fight them. how to align your biggest hopes and dreams for your kids with specific skills that can be practiced, along with new research to support those powerful connections. about each age and stage your child goes through and the range of learning opportunities available. how to identify and manage those big emotions (that only the parenting process can bring out in us!) and how to model emotional intelligence for your children. how to deal with the emotions and influences of your choir—the many outside individuals and communities who directly impact your child’s life, including school, the digital world, extended family, neighbors, and friends. Raising confident, centered, happy kids—while feeling the same way about yourself—is possible with Confident Parents, Confident Kids.




Talking with Children and Young People about Death and Dying


Book Description

Talking with Children and Young People about Death and Dying is a popular resource designed to help adults talk to bereaved children and young people. Mary Turner explains the various aspects and stages of bereavement and offers useful insights into the concerns of children experiencing grief or facing an imminent bereavement. She addresses children's common fears and worries, dreams and nightmares, and acknowledges the effect of trauma on the grief process. This second edition includes a new section for adults on understanding the distress of a bereaved child and also a list of useful contacts. It is a fully photocopiable workbook that enables adults to deal with these issues sensitively and explains, for example, how to choose appropriate words to support the child. It will empower and equip adults working with bereaved children to encourage them to communicate their pain and understand the often contradictory emotions aroused by the death of someone close to them.




Talking About Death Won’t Kill You


Book Description

This practical handbook will equip readers with the tools to have meaningful conversations about death and dying Death is a part of life. We used to understand this, and in the past, loved ones generally died at home with family around them. But in just a few generations, death has become a medical event, and we have lost the ability to make this last part of life more personal and meaningful. Today people want to regain control over health-care decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Talking About Death Won’t Kill You is the essential handbook to help Canadians navigate personal and medical decisions for the best quality of life for the end of our lives. Noted palliative-care educator and researcher Kathy Kortes-Miller shows readers how to identify and reframe limiting beliefs about dying with humor and compassion. With robust resource lists, Kortes-Miller addresses advance care plans for ourselves and our loved ones how to have conversations about end-of-life wishes with loved ones how to talk to children about death how to build a compassionate workplace practical strategies to support our colleagues how to talk to health-care practitioners how to manage challenging family dynamics as someone is dying what is involved in medical assistance in dying (MAID) Far from morbid, these conversations are full of meaning and life — and the relief that comes from knowing what your loved ones want, and what you want for yourself.




Talking about Death


Book Description

A read-along picture book explaining death to young children with an extensive guide for parents. Includes lists of pertinent organizations, books, tapes, and films.




Let's Talk About When Someone Dies


Book Description

From Molly Potter, best-selling author of How Are You Feeling Today? and What's Worrying You?, comes a picture book for starting conversations with children about death, bereavement and what happens next. When someone dies, we can feel a whole host of different emotions and explaining them to a child isn't so easy. This book uses clear, easy-to-understand language to answer complex questions about death and how a child might feel when someone dies. It covers all manner of tricky subjects with sensitivity and honesty, from what death is to why people die. Each double page spread takes a child through how they might feel, what they might think and how they might behave. With engaging illustrations, gentle guidance and simple advice for parents and carers, Let's Talk About When Someone Dies fulfils an important but difficult need for starting conversations with children about death and bereavement, in an accessible and supportive way.