Grief Therapy

Grief therapy for children involves various approaches, including using creative outlets like drawing, playing, or building to express feelings, psychoeducation to help children understand grief, and professional therapies such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Multidimensional Grief Therapy.. Caregivers can also support grieving children by communicating openly, creating a safe space for them to share feelings, and helping them remember the person who died.

Techniques and Activities to Help

Encourage Expression

Provide non-verbal outlets for emotions such as drawing, building, or creating a scrapbook.

Talk Openly

Use simple, honest language about death and grief. Encourage the child to talk about their feelings, but don’t force it; let them know you are there when they are ready.

Involve Them

Include children in family ceremonies if appropriate and consider giving them a role in the process, which can help them feel included and less confused.

Promote Movement and Mindfulness

Activities like deep breathing (using bubbles or pinwheels), dancing, or stomping on paper can help a child move and express big feelings.

Facilitate Memory-making

Look at photos, tell stories, or create a memory box together to help the child remember and talk about the person who died.

Use Psychoeducation

Help children and their caregivers understand that there are many different ways to grieve and that a wide range of responses are normal.

What to expect?

Children may move in and out of their grief, showing sadness one moment and playing the next.

Grief can manifest physically with symptoms like headaches or stomach aches.

Younger children may include death in their play or talk about it at different times, which is a normal way for them to process what has happened.