Supporting Grieving Children: A Primer for Professionals

An estimated 1 in 14, or 5.2 million, children in the U.S. will experience the death of a parent or sibling before they reach the age of 18. And yet many school counselors, parents, caregivers, social workers, and therapists struggle trying to understand how grief manifests in children and how best to support them. This workshop provides a foundation childhood bereavement and tools for supporting grieving children age birth through twelve. It will provide a framework for grief and developmental age, guidelines for talking to children about death and grief, tools and creative activities for hel...Read moreping kids with grief emotions, and activities for remembrance and continuing bonds. Less...

Learning Objectives

  • Identify expected grief response of children at each age/developmental stage, while considering the need for flexibility in applying these expectations.
  • Assess the unique needs of grieving children, with focus on how clinicians can meet these needs directly, as well as how they can assist caregivers, teachers, mentors, and other adults to create a community of support for grieving children.
  • Apply interventions for children who are grieving in normal and non-problem ways, as well as identify appropriate resources, referrals, and interventions for children who need more intensive grief support.

Target Audience

This educational activity is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, and MFT's.

Learning Levels

  • Introductory

Thursday, November 14, 2024

Live Interactive Webinar

12:00 PM EST - 03:15 PM EST

Register for this Webinar
EARN 3 CE Credit Hours

About the speakers

Litsa Williams MA, LCSW-C

Litsa Williams MA, LCSW-C

Litsa Williams, MA, LCSW-C is the co-founder of the online grief organization What’s Your Grief. She’s a grief therapist with 15 years of experience, with expertise in sudden and traumatic loss as well as ambiguous grief. Drawing on personal and professional experience with grief, WYG was built as a resource offering concrete, practical, creative, down-to-earth, and relatable support, founded on the values of psychoeducation and creative coping. It has grown to serve more than 3 million visitors each year. Litsa received her master's degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, as well as a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Warwick (UK). She has been interviewed as a grief expert for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and New York Times. She co-authored the 2022 book What's Your Grief: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss.
Eleanor Haley, MS

Eleanor Haley, MS

Eleanor Haley, MS is co-founder of What’s Your Grief, one of the country’s largest online grief and bereavement support communities which is accessed by over 3 million grievers every year. With a background in counseling psychology, Eleanor has over 15 years of expertise in grief, with expertise in working with families who have experienced traumatic and unexpected losses. She is co-author of the book What's Your Grief: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss and has co-authored 15 grief publications used in hospitals, hospices, funeral homes, and OPOs across the US and Canada. She has experience teaching psychology courses at the college level and is passionate about innovative teaching methods, technologies, and pedagogical approaches to enhance grief education and support. She has been interviewed as a grief expert for media outlets including NPR, Washington Post, The New York Times, USNews, and Huffington Post.

Agenda

12:00-12:15 Introduction, data review, and defining grief

                •     Doka and the introduction of the grief beyond bereavement loss.

                •     CBEM data on national childhood bereavement

12:15-12:45 Research on Children's Grief and Children's Grief Support

                • Literature review

                • Parent and caregiver of grieving children survey

     12:45-1:15 Cognitive development: grief and developmental stages

                • Age review based on cognitive, social, and moral development

                • Modeling, Social Learning Theory, And Practical Considerations    

1:15-1:30 Grief and magical thinking in children

1:30-1:45 Break

1:45-2:15 Re-grief and continuing bonds theory

                • Understanding regrief in children

                • Framework for continuing bonds

2:15-3:00 Activities and tools

                • Emotions

                • Remembrance and continuing bonds   

3:00-3:15 Community resources, referrals, and close. 

CE Information - Earn 3 CE Credit Hours

CE Approvals

American Psychological Association
CE Learning Systems, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE Learning Systems maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work
CE Learning Systems SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0060.
New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors
CE Learning Systems, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners
What's Your Grief is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners in Maryland to sponsor social work continuing education learning activities and maintains full responsibility for this program. This training qualifies for XX Category I continuing education units.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology
CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0016.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy
CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0045.
Minnesota Board of Social Work
What's Your Gref is an active Minnesota Board of Social Work approved continuing education provider CEP-2480

CE Process Info

Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by his/her licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend "live" (in real-time) to earn CE credits.

Before the event, you will receive an email from CE-Go with access to the virtual event. After the event, you will receive access to your evaluation and continuing education certificate via a personalized "attendee dashboard" link, hosted on the CE-Go website. This link and access to the virtual event will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event.

Upon accessing the CE-Go "attendee dashboard", you will be able to:

  • Complete evaluation forms for the event
  • Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go platform, please contact CE-Go at 888-498-5578 or by email at support@ce-go.com Please Note: Emails for this event will come from "support@ce-go.com".

If you have any continuing education related questions, please contact your event organizer.

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Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer:


PLANNERS AND REVIEWER
The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

FACULTY
The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.