Supporting Children and Adolescents in Grief

[Reviewed and updated February 6, 2026]

As an adult or child, experiencing grief means to “feel,” not just to “understand.” Anyone old enough to love is old enough to grieve.  ~ Alan D. Wolfelt

Children and adolescents grieve just as deeply as adults, but depending on their cognitive and emotional development, they will experience and express their grief differently from the grown-ups around them.

Caregiving and Hospice, September 10 - September 16, 2017

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Staying Calm in a Hurricane - Guided Imagery Do's and Don'ts, http://j.mp/2xnlXRX « Health Journeys

Art from the Heart - the role of art therapy in palliative care, http://j.mp/2flbi0s « Alberta Hospice Palliative Care Association

Beautiful: Seventysomething: When it's time to stop fixing life's holes, http://j.mp/2eRMJY5 « PBS NewsHour

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below. If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Understanding and Managing Grief, April 16 - April 22, 2017

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Who’s in Charge Here? Coping with loss of control, http://bit.ly/2ork7rS « What's Your Grief?

How to Offer Support to a Grieving Colleague, http://bit.ly/2pji1yu « Harvard Business Review

Guided Imagery 101 – Some Basics for Everyone, http://bit.ly/2pGDXAq « Health Journeys

Caregiving and Hospice, August 14 - August 20, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Aging Solo: Okay, I don’t have a child to help me, but I do have a plan, http://j.mp/2aZlXZI « The Washington Post

The Gold Standard for Current Cancer Treatment, http://bit.ly/2biQYZm « Care And Cost

Why Listening Can Be a Gift, http://j.mp/2bcodgZ « Quiet Revolution

Understanding and Managing Grief, July 10 - July 16, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

About Grief, http://j.mp/29Y0xOY « Personal Growth and Grief Support Center

Getting Through Those Triggers! http://j.mp/29D9ivS « Open to Hope

Stopping Traffic For Grief, http://j.mp/29IKtlm « Huffington Post

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 27 - January 2, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Powerful: What do grown children owe abusive parents? http://j.mp/1YWAzjZ « Slate

Coping with New Years Eve Blues, http://j.mp/1mt2eHl « What's Your Grief?

Helping Your Parents Deal with Loss, http://j.mp/1Or64Y8 « Hospice of the Red River Valley

Understanding and Managing Grief, September 27 - October 3, 2015

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Family Misunderstanding After A Death, http://j.mp/1jDtVMt « What's Your Grief?

Why Listening Can Be A Gift, http://j.mp/1NYA3dp « HuffPost Quiet Revolution

In Grief: Aversion to Thoughts Of "Acceptance" and "Moving On," http://j.mp/1NWWAr9 « Grief Healing

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.
If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 31 - September 6, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Grief and Home Decor: Thanks For The Memories, http://j.mp/1BixoUv « Build Direct Blog

Grief In The Second Year: Finding Your Way, http://j.mp/wRiJJS « Grief Healing Blog

Armchair Analysis: Was Your Relationship 'Good' Enough to Warrant So Much Grief? http://huff.to/1m33QBx « HuffPost Healthy Living

Understanding and Managing Grief, July 27 - August 2, 2014

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Child Loss: Finding Support on Your Grief Journey, http://j.mp/1lmTVGu « Ezine Articles

What is Aromatherapy? Interview with Marika Fleri of Aroma Treasures, http://j.mp/1rVN1f6 « Seven Ponds Blog

Bibliotherapy: When books are prescribed to heal the mind, http://j.mp/1pNxk6Y « The Boston Globe

Caregiving and Hospice, November 4 - November 10, 2012

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Keeping Intimacy Alive in caregiving, http://j.mp/SWQDic

• Checklists for all your caregiving needs, http://owl.li/f7EX1 via @AgingWisely

• November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, http://bit.ly/Tz3d4V via @JNJComm @JNJVideo

• Wow. New PSAs about caregiving are unsettling, but AARP says that's the point! http://ow.ly/f1XEA via @hwcaregivers

• What Henry Winkler wants you to know about stroke caregiving, http://j.mp/UbFFBp « Caring.com

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 5 - August 11, 2012

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Ouch. New post, and it's brutal. Read with caution, http://j.mp/QoPw4W via @brownie1301
  
  
• Agreed: Absolutely excellent! “Real” Men and Mourning, http://j.mp/RAPYBf by @CalebWilde via @UnweddedWidow
  
  
• "Forgotten Mourners!" Who are they? What does it mean? http://conta.cc/RtmlmT via @markhundley
  
  
• If you do something to help others in grief, share it in the comments, http://www.facebook.com/grieftoolbox/posts/331946840229870?notif_t=share_comment … « The Grief Toolbox
  
  
• A beautiful sound: Add your loved one's name to the comment list, http://www.facebook.com/grieftoolbox/posts/228138287308030 …  « The Grief Toolbox

Understanding and Managing Grief, January 22 - January 28, 2012

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Lessons Learned: After Son's Sudden Death, Shock, Grief And Coping http://n.pr/wGcVC0 from @IDidNotKnow via@TheGriefToolbox
  
  
• Supporting the bereaved by having the courage to listen, http://j.mp/zeQDDV
  
  
• Beautiful! Parents of stillborns struggle with grief, http://bit.ly/yJxgRv from @JenMarsh2 via @dcexaminer
  
  
• How Long Should Grief Last? http://j.mp/x7yjWA
  
  
• Film Review: The Descendants | SevenPonds Blog, http://j.mp/zyfFgj

Caregiving and Hospice, March 6 - March 12

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Study: Hospice care benefits survivors too, http://bit.ly/g3n3ud via @DrDignity @hospice_news

• Volunteers make sure no one is alone at the end of life, http://bit.ly/gK4ePD via @annbilott @hospicepharmacy

• New guide dog leads both man and previous, now-blind guide dog, http://ow.ly/4c0VP via @amcny @PetDecisions

• End of Life Resource Centre: a valuable online resource, http://bit.ly/11Rtya via @jlunney_mp

• Wonderful video on value of pets when loved one is on hospice, http://ow.ly/4bJt8 via @petpeaceofmind

Tips for Helping Children and Adolescents in Grief

Children and adolescents grieve just as deeply as adults, but depending on their cognitive and emotional development, they will experience and express their grief differently from the grown-ups around them. Moving in and out of grief is natural for youngsters, and the symptoms of grief may come and go, varying in intensity. Their response will depend on the knowledge and skills available to them at the time of the loss. Having had less prior experience with crisis and its consequences, their repertoire of coping skills is simpler, their capacity to confront the reality of loss more limited and their ability to find meaning in life’s crises less mature. If surprised or embarrassed by the intensity of their grief, they may try to hide it or disguise it. Parents, relatives, teachers and friends are wise to watch and to tune in to their children and adolescents, to listen to them, be there for them and if unsure of what’s going on, to ask! Read on here >>>

Caregiving and Hospice, July 25 - July 31

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Excellent article @ChicagoSunTimes: Start planning to help your elderly parents, http://ow.ly/2jc8y via @AgeWiseLiving

• @NHPCO_news: "Embracing our dying," an article by Rev. Richard Benson, CM, http://bit.ly/am2NPm 

• @Kathy_Brandt: If you missed Atul Gawande's interview on NPR's Fresh Air, you can listen to his take on end-of-life care here, http://tiny.cc/oa1rx

• @hospice_news: The Paradox of Hospice http://nyti.ms/cyqIYB

• Stunning post by pediatrician remembering his care for infant at end-of-life: "Long, rambling, somewhat cathartic - all Atul Gawande's fault," http://bit.ly/9oSIzz , via @doclake

• Brad Stuart, MD: Talking with patients about their impending death | KevinMD.com, http://bit.ly/9LGw60 

• Excellent commentary! @doclake: @GeriPalBlog: REALLY Letting Go: Beyonde Gawande http://bit.ly/9jmqas 

• Wendy Harpham, MD: Hospice and hope aren't mutually exclusive: The "H" Word: Oncology Times, http://bit.ly/9JrydU

• @GeriPalBlog: Atul Gawande New Yorker Article "Letting Go," http://bit.ly/d6gARm

• @NHPCO_news: Powerful article, "Letting Go: What should medicine do when it can't save your life?" http://bit.ly/aamQKy

• @ctsinclair: "Letting go" - Great article from 'Best medical writer in US' via @doclake in @newyorkerdotccom , http://tiny.cc/5chve 

• @OneLifeTherapy: Life Before Death Campaign working to break down silence around death, http://bit.ly/aEPxkU 

• Very helpful! @caregiving: One Way to Judge a Nursing Home (NY Times), http://nyti.ms/cPEILT 

• @doclake: @kevinmd: End of life blogging benefits and questions raised http://ow.ly/2h4O9 - by our own @ctsinclair

• @JohnReaves: Avoiding "learned helplessness" in caregiving, http://wp.me/pNT5q-8g via @EmpowerAbility 

• @peternity: Healing power and benefits of having an animal companion in your life, http://tinyurl.com/ydhnj6q 

• Phillip Toledano's stunning photographic essay on last days with his father, via @ctsinclair , http://bit.ly/bHC5L

• @mission_hospice: Hospice Patient Savors Chance To Cook Four-Course Meal (Chicago Tribune), http://bit.ly/9hiMwH

• @DianaSebzda: @ctsinclair @brigid22 @hospicepharmacy Great article! Destigmatizing Dying through Social Media by Jeanne Dennis, http://huff.to/dBNi0h

• @DianaSebzda: @myOH_AgingWell Tips for downsizing - you can't take it with you, http://bit.ly/2VtFrZ 

• Providing emotional, physical support to veterans: America's VetDogs http://bit.ly/dhGrgk

Other News of Interest, June 27 - July 3

From Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

• Not surprising! @kevinmd @doclake: Patient satisfaction scores improve when doctors sit, http://ow.ly/23Txv

• @HelloGrief: Guest writers on grief, loss, and healing topics welcomed! Email your writing to... http://bit.ly/9RBqTm

• @DianaSebzda @aliciaault @MedicalNewsNet: Proposed DSM Changes at Psychiatrists’ Meeting, http://bit.ly/atOnjt

• @DianaSebzda: Great article @heisberger, Practical Suggestions for Finding a Good Therapist, http://bit.ly/bs28kn

• Terrific read! RT @HylaMolander: Do you play well with your spouse's ex? http://scr.bi/aOTyqJ

• Another reason to treasure them! Dog Sniffs Out Prostate Cancer in Small Study http://bit.ly/9azsbB

• Amen! Value doctors as listeners to prevent primary care burn out, http://bit.ly/cWd8dG 

• Just announced: Afterlife Awareness Conference to be held in Phoenix, April 29 - May 1, 2011, http://conta.cc/bZy8qG 

• Terrific read! RT @HylaMolander: Do you play well with your spouse's ex? http://scr.bi/aOTyqJ 

• @HylaMolander: We all yearn to be loved and accepted: Hurtful Words, http://shar.es/m8hq3