Talking with Children About Loss

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 ChildForeword by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D.
Preface by Kathy Massimini
Acknowledgments

Part 1: Danger and Opportunity: The Mourning Process in Children
1. I Was a Forgotten Mourner
2. We Put Old Rover to Sleep: The Task of Understanding
3. What Did You Bring Me From Florida?: The Task of Grieving
4. What Happened to Grandpa’s Head?: The Task of Commemorating
5. Memory Embraces: The Task of Going On

Part 2: When Someone Dies
6. Don’t Hug Me: When Children Lose a Parent
7. A Care Bear for Mamaw: When Children Lose a Grandparent
8. Angels Don’t Have Headlights: When Children Lose a Sibling
9. A Video Connection with a Dying Child: Anticipatory Loss
10. AIDS and Suicide Disclosure: Mourning Stigmatic Deaths
11. Children as Living-Room Witnesses: Catastrophic Losses
12. Anatomy of a Crisis: The Rudie Dodge Story
13. Multiple Tragedies in Families and Communities: Bereavement Overload

Part 3: Nonovert Losses
14. Fragmented Families: Mourning a Divorce
15. I Think Sam Is Starting to Like Me a Lot: Blended Families
16. Mourning the Brother I Once Had: Chronic Losses
17. If It’s Unmentionable, It’s Unmanageable: Everyday Losses

Appendix: Resources for Children, Families, and Communities
Endnotes
Credits
Index

Maria Trozzi is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. She is the director of the Good Grief Program at Boston Medical Center, now in its fifteenth year of providing national training, crisis consultation, and direct services to children, parents, educators, and health professionals. Maria lectures regularly throughout the United States to parents and professionals about the inevitable losses that all children face as they grow up.US

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