ARTICLE: UNDERSTANDING CHILD AND ADOLESCENT GRIEF

To understand the grief process in children and adolescents it is important to consider the following:

Children grieve in “windows of time” - as their sense of “safety” permits.
Children are physical in their grief.
Children understand death and grieve according to their particular developmental (cognitive, emotional, and spiritual) phase.
Children revisit losses over their lifespan.
Children who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling often feel isolated and different.
Grief often interrupts and/or stalls the normal age-appropriate developmental tasks.
Children are quick to blame themselves for the death of a loved one and may “secretly” carry this guilt for long periods of time.
Grieving children often experience their world as “out of control.
Children grieve as a part of a family system and take their cues about how to grieve from the adults who are their primary caregivers.