Helping Children Cope with Grief

Every day many children lose someone close to them – a parent or grandparent, brother or sister. Nothing can take away the pain of loss, but there is a great deal that a caring adult can do to avoid the long-term distress which can be caused by hidden fears and anxieties. This book is for anyone who wants to help a child who is coping with grief – parents, teachers, nurses, doctors and friends. The topics covered include: terminal illness; sudden death; the death of a sibling; when death is a relief; and other people’s attitudes and misunderstandings. This new edition looks at the problems particular to bereaved families of varying cultures, and explores how family dynamics and relationships can influence the grieving process. Much depends on a child’s age, family relationships, and a child’s own perception of death, but, in favourable circumstances, and even in fairly disordered ones, most children do cope successfully with the death of a parent or sibling.