Caring for Your Grieving Child: a Parents Guide

Description

When children mourn the death of a loved one, a pet, their parents' divorce, or a great loss or change, most have not yet learned the coping skills necessary to ease the impact of this pain. By understanding both the signs of grief and the signs of healing in a child, parents can actively help their children cope with the grief process. In this new guide, a children"s mental health specialist helps parents identify the intense attachments, changes in behaviour, signs of stress, anxiety, and depression that grieving children exhibit. The author introduces extraordinarily effective play-based therapeutic techniques that have been proven to help kids heal from emotional wounds and loss. A wealth of expressive art exercises like the "Magic Wand," where kids "make the yucky feeling go away," and "Drawing Out the Pain," where kids colour with different crayons to express different feelings not only help the child cope with feelings but also help the parent understand them. Parents are shown how to notice different types of play and respond accordingly and given healthy ways to communicate with their child, tips on how to care for themselves, and ways to recognize the signs of true healing in their child.

Martha Wakenshaw is a psychotherapist in private practice in Seattle, WA, and a board-certified mental health counselor specializing in play and expressive arts therapy. Foreword writer Herman Frankel, M.D., is a pediatrician and teacher who has, for the past 30 years, specialized in helping children and parents deal effectively with loss, challenges, and transitions in their lives. He is a recipient of the nation"s highest honor for community health promotion and disease prevention: the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Award of Excellence. Director of Divorcework Center, Dr. Frankel works directly with parents and their children, and leads workshops for professionals, parents, and general audiences.