Understanding Child and Adolescent Grief incorporates theory, clinical applications, case studies, and current research on contemporary models of grief pertaining to children and adolescents. The integration of developmental perspectives, attachment theory, and neurobiological implications provides a thorough summary of the many factors that can affect a child's growth and development, and the subsequent influence on grief expression. Chapters explore relevant social topics rarely addressed in other texts, such as the death of African American men, suicide among Aboriginal youth in Canada, death/suicide among LGBTQ youth and social media's influence. Also included are practical tips for helping professionals who want to better understand how grief and loss affect children and teens, as well as a meditation guide that provides concrete opportunities for growth and healing.
Understanding and Addressing Adolescent Grief Issues will help you, as the caring adult, be a guide through this troubling time by helping you understand what the adolescent is going through and giving you comprehensive techniques to address the situation.
In this unique and compassionate guide, renowned grief counselor Helen Fitzgerald turns her attention to the special needs of adolescents struggling with loss and gives teens the tools they need to work through their pain and grief. Although the circumstances surrounding a death are difficult to handle at any age, adolescence brings with it challenges and struggles that until now have been largely overlooked. Writing not only about but also for teenagers, Fitzgerald adeptly covers the entire range of situations in which teens may find themselves grieving a death, whether the cause was old age, terminal illness, school violence, or suicide. She helps teens address the gamut of strong and difficult emotions they will experience and the new situations they will face, including family changes, issues with friends, problems at school, and the courage needed to move forward with one's own life. Using the clear and accessible format that has made The Mourning Handbook and The Grieving Child enduring and helpful classics, Fitzgerald guides teens through everything from the sickbed to the funeral, from the first day back at school to the first anniversary of the death. Above all, she lets teens know that even in their darkest hour, they are not alone.
Most students experience some form of loss in their lives, and the resulting grief can profoundly affect their academic performance, emotional stability, and social interactions. Serving both as a resource and workbook, this reader-friendly primer helps educators and school counselors understand and respond to the extraordinary challenges that children and adolescents may face when dealing with loss and grief.
For some, life’s introduction to death and grief comes early, and when it does it can take many forms. Not only does Dealing with Dying, Death, and Grief during Adolescence tackle them all, it does so with David Balk’s remarkable sensitivity to and deep knowledge of the pressures and opportunities adolescents face in their transition from childhood to adulthood. In seamless, jargon-free language, Balk brings readers up to date with what we know about adolescent development, because over time such changes form the backstory we need to comprehend the impact of death and bereavement in an adolescent’s life. The book’s later chapters break down the recent findings in the study of life-threatening illness and bereavement during adolescence. And, crucially, these chapters also examine interventions that assist adolescents coping with these difficulties. Clinicians will come away from this book with both a grounded understanding of adolescent development and the adolescent experience of death, and they’ll also gain specific tools for helping adolescents cope with death and grief on their own terms. For any clinician committed to supporting adolescents facing some of life’s most difficult experiences, this integrated, up-to-date, and deeply insightful text is simply the book to have. David E. Balk is professor in the department of health and nutrition sciences at Brooklyn College (CUNY), where he directs the graduate program in thanatology. He is the author of Adolescent Development: Early Through Late Adolescence, Helping the Bereaved College Student, and several other books on death and bereavement. He is also co-editor of the 2nd edition of the Handbook of Thanatology (Routledge, 2013).
"The book is well organized, well detailed, and well referenced; it is an invaluable sourcebook for researchers and clinicians working in the area of bereavement. For those with limited knowledge about bereavement, this volume provides an excellent introduction to the field and should be of use to students as well as to professionals," states Contemporary Psychology. The Lancet comments that this book "makes good and compelling reading....It was mandated to address three questions: what is known about the health consequences of bereavement; what further research would be important and promising; and whether there are preventive interventions that should either be widely adopted or further tested to evaluate their efficacy. The writers have fulfilled this mandate well."
"Capturing from the start that 'Childhood is, and always has been, a vulnerable time,' we have a rich in gathering of contributed pieces that bring us into the raw, fragile arena of children traumatized by life events and behaviors..." --Illness, Crisis, and Loss "Balk and Corr again have edited a book that will set the direction of the field for yet another decade....Caregivers can count on this book...for insight and intervention." --From the Foreword by Kenneth J. Doka, PhD Professor, The Graduate School, The College of New Rochelle Author, Counseling Individuals With Life-Threatening Illness Over a decade has passed since the publication of Balk and Corr's groundbreaking Handbook of Adolescent Death and Bereavement. This new book, Adolescent Encounters With Death, Bereavement, and Coping, analyzes the challenges faced by adolescents coping with death, dying, and bereavement, and examines the new, unique circumstances and advances that have transpired over the last decade. These include: Grief and coping with HIV/AIDS Adolescents, humor, and death Technology and the Internet: coping with loss in the digital world Bereavement over the deaths of celebrities The book also explores critical, imaginative conceptual frameworks and models that have emerged on the scene, including: The dual process model for understanding loss Ideas about assumptive worlds Debates about the benefit and harm of grief counseling New research on recovery and resilience following bereavement Written from the interdisciplinary perspectives of expert sociologists, psychologists, educators, social workers, nurses, and anthropologists, this book offers a breadth and depth of insight into the complex nature of adolescent bereavement. Nurses, counselors, social workers, and educators will find this book to be an invaluable resource when they try to understand and help adolescents coping with death-related issues.
This guidebook outlines the many thoughts, challenges and reactions unique to grieving teens. Drawn from stories, suggestions and insight shared by teens and family members, it explores how teens view death and how it impacts their lives as well as offering suggestions as to ways of support and understanding.
Provides developmentally appropriate interventions for counselling children and adolescents who have experienced a wide range of grief and loss, including secondary and intangible losses such as moving or divorce. It provides a method for assessing individual needs and offers guidelines for selecting appropriate counselling strategies.
This is the authoritative guide to conducting trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), a systematic, evidence-based treatment for traumatized children and their families. Provided is a comprehensive framework for assessing posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and other symptoms; developing a flexible, individualized treatment plan; and working collaboratively with children and parents to build core skills in such areas as affect regulation and safety. Specific guidance is offered for responding to different types of traumatic events, with an entire section devoted to grief-focused components. Useful appendices feature resources, reproducible handouts, and information on obtaining additional training. TF-CBT has been nationally recognized as an exemplary evidence-based program. See also the edited volume Trauma-Focused CBT for Children and Adolescents: Treatment Applications for more information on tailoring TF-CBT to children's varying developmental levels and cultural backgrounds.
