Sometimes the only thing we can do is to sit, listen and tell our child that their feelings are normal
Explaining death to a grieving child can be heartbreaking and difficult. Kate Silverton explains how best to broach the subject and then support them through loss
Bereavement charities like Child Bereavement UK say children grieve in much the same way as adults. They learn how to mourn by copying the responses of the adults around them but without adult support, we may see them move into a life of searching, longing and yearning.
I interviewed a Canadian writer recently for BBC Radio 4?s obituary programme, The Last Word. She was paying tribute to a man whom she said had been like a ?father figure? after her own father died when she was young. She said she?d spent decades experiencing a deep sense of loss and ?longing? for the father she?d never had. And as a result it had affected all her relationships as she sought to recreate that father/daughter relationship.
Her words were powerful testimony to the impact bereavement can have on a child. So when a child loses someone close to them, how best to address their grief" How might we spot the signs that they are not coping and decide what support we can provide"
?At times there will be nothing we can do for our child except to sit with them and let them experience their grief,? says clinical psychologist Dr Laura Markham. She warns, however, if we are ourselves uncomfortable with dealing with loss, we give a destru...