Organized around a timeline of the first year of mourning, this warm yet practical guide will show adults how to help children cope.
The mourning of a parent's death can take many years—for some it may take a lifetime. The first year of separation, however, is often the most difficult and heart wrenching. The first birthday, holiday, spring, summer, autumn, and winter spent without the loved one often revives or increases the pain. This unique guide is organized according to a timeline of a child's first year of mourning the loss of a parent. It is a warm, insightful, yet practical guide to help the families and community members surrounding a child who has suffered such a loss to anticipate and cope with the many difficulties that arise. Practical suggestions for providing comfort, information, and advice are provided for adults struggling to help children endure the trauma. A range of difficult situations that bereaved children encounter are identified, helping to prepare adults for a child's potential reactions and providing them with realistic coping strategies.
Lewis and Lippman, child psychologists who have provided therapy to children who have lost a parent, suggest answers to questions that these children frequently ask. They offer methods for dealing with particularly difficult times such as birthdays, and share practical advice for everyday situations and events. They begin with helping the child through anticipation of death, if it is expected, or through the initial shock of unexpected death. Poignant vignettes from the therapists' experience dealing with young and older children are included.
Endings
The First Few Weeks and Months
Difficult Days
Do's and Don'ts
Later On
Suicide and Unexpected Death
The First Anniversary
Interviews
Consideration for Individual Therapy
Appendix
Bibliography
Reviews
"Comprehensive academic collections, all levels; professional and general collections."—Choice
Endorsements
"This is a beautiful, moving, and important book which will be invaluable for families helping children deal with the death of a parent. The authors write on the basis of many years working with children and bereavement and provide a book which is both carefully prepared and genuinely helpful."—Bertram J. Cohler, William Rainey Harper Professor, The University of Chicago
"This insightful guide fills a void in the psychological literature. Anyone who knows a child whose parent is dying or has recently died, will send the surviving relatives racing for this invaluable contribution.... With lucid, clear, no-nonsense prose the authors navigate the psychological landscape of that inversion of nature in which a child is left behind by a parent who unexpectedly dies."—Donald M. Schwartz, Ph.D.
"It is an extraordinarily useful book: beautifully written, vivid, detailed and touching. I came close to tears several times while reading it. As sad as the subject can be, I always felt that I was in the hands of two experienced clinicians who really know what they are talking about."—Michael Thompson, Ph.D., coauthor of Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys
"A must read for teachers, guidance counselors, coaches and anyone else in the teaching profession because it is an essential and long-overdue guide. So many times we wonder how we should try to help or what we should say to young people facing this difficult situation. With help from Drs. Lewis and Lippman, this unsure path becomes clear."—Donna Pellar, Vice President and Past President, Maine Township School Board, District 207
