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Grief and Loss

by Crystal Harvey, M.A., Doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology

Experiencing the loss of a loved one can elicit a range of responses in children of all ages. In fact, children's understanding of death and dying changes throughout their development and may influence the way they express their grief. Even very young children (under the age of 3) have reactions to the loss of a loved one. Although they don't have a cognitive understanding of death, they can be very sensitive to the reactions of those around them and may experience distress. As children grow and develop, their understanding of death and dying does as well. For more information on this topic, see “The Development of Children's Understanding of Death and Dying.” [More]

NOTE: Choose a location before choosing a topic to limit results to organizations relevant to residents of that community.

Resource Organizations » Grief and Loss

8 listing(s), including 3 offering support groups

In Massachusetts

Children's Room, Center for Grieving Children & Teenagers, Inc.

The mission of The Children's Room is to provide a safe and caring place where grieving children, teens, and families can receive peer support and the guidance of trained volunteers. The Children's Room enables these families to express their grief and to adapt to the many changes that accompany the death. We serve children from ages three to eighteen. Children meet with other children their age (such as teen to teen) with similar losses and meet in small groups to encourage sharing and strong connections. While the children are playing, talking and doing crafts together, the adults are meeting on their own with other parents/guardians who have experienced a loss.

Services are provided free of charge, although we invite families to make a voluntary donation. The Children's Room also has a Framingham location at 39 Edwards Street.

Experience Journal

The Experience Journals are designed to promote the healthy coping of children and their families who must contend with significant physical and emotional illnesses. The Experience Journals are collections of stories, pictures, and personal experiences from families about what it has been like to live with their children's illnesses. They represent the "collective wisdom" of these children and their parents as well as their health care providers.

Generations After, Inc.

We are a nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts whose mission is to preserve the legacy of our parents and grandparents, who were Holocaust Survivors, through outreach, education, social events and interaction with Survivors and their descendants.

Good Grief Program

The Good Grief Program provides workshops throughout the state for schools, parents and community groups, crisis intervention and development of a crisis protocol to help children develop coping skills around death, dying and loss.

The CIRCLE, a project of The Good Grief Program, provides a comprehensive family bereavement support program after the death of a loved one. The CIRCLE has programs in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Hingham and a CIRCLE for families who had a loved one die on Sept. 11th.

Needham Health Department

The Needham Health Department offers a range of mental health services for citizens of the town. Public Health Nurses provide confidential counseling and referrals to all ages. Short-term home-based services for at-risk teenagers and their families are provided through Riverside Community Care's Alternative Youth Services program. The program includes family counseling, advocacy, information, and referral. Call the Health Department for more information on these free services. The town's Substance Abuse Prevention and Education program provides informational programs, educational resources, and confidential substance abuse support services for Needham youth, adults, and seniors. Contact Carol Read at the Health Department to find out more about inpatient and outpatient treatment, individual and group counseling, and peer support resources regarding substance abuse, addiction and chemical dependency.

Needham Youth Services

This is a town-funded department which provides professional and confidential mental health services to youth and their families in Needham. It offers support, information, and direction on issues such as peer relationships, stress, grief and loss, substance use, suicide, and other concerns. Most services are free of charge. The department collaborates regularly with civic and community organizations on a variety of projects.

Second Generation Connections and Resources

Second Generation Connections and Resources provides a setting for discussion and learning, as well as a location to seek helpful resources. Second Generation Connections and Resources provides an ongoing supportive/educational discussion group for children of Holocaust survivors. Discussion group topics include: sharing, learning and understanding about your family's or relative's experiences, understanding the impact of family experiences on yourself, your personal experiences and your life, learning from historical perspectives, informing and teaching the next generation, dealing with any concerns or needs you may have, and seeking helpful resources and information.

Outside Massachusetts

Bereaved Parents of the USA

Bereaved Parents of the USA (BP/USA) is dedicated to offering support, understanding, encouragement and hope to bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents. It provides aid and support for those who are suffering the loss of a child, brother, sister or grandchild. BP/USA educates families about the grief process in all its complexities pertaining to the death of a child at any age and from any cause. The organization provides telephone numbers and email addresses of other bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents who are able to offer support to other more newly bereaved families. Chapters across the country hold monthly chapter meetings where sharing, support and encouragement can be provided. BP/USA produces a National Newsletter and individual chapter newsletters to aid with grief work. It also holds an Annual Gathering where helpful speakers, workshops, sharing sessions and much more will be provided. The BP/USA websites offers articles and other resources on family bereavement.

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Additional Sources of Information

• The Grief Blog. The Grief Blog is an interactive forum created by mother/daughter team Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley offering hope, guidance, and support, to those who have suffered the loss of a loved one.

From The Good Grief Program of the Boston Medical Center

• Helping Children Cope with Traumatic Events
• Ways Adults Can Help Bereaved Children
• What Do Children Need?
• The Development of Children's Understanding of Death and Dying

Publications

List of books, articles and other publications on Grief and Loss.

36th Annual National Suicide Prevention Week, September 5th - 11th, 2010. See Families, Community Systems and Suicide, from the American Association of Suicidology.

In Crisis?
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Need a referral? Call us at 617-332-3666 x 411.

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Can't find what you need or need a referral to a mental health practitioner?
Call 617-332-3666 x 411

The work of Project INTERFACE is supported in part by the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP).