27. How Kids Deal with Grief & Ways to Support Them with Kate Lannan from A Haven

When your family loses a loved one it impacts everyone, but how grief looks and sounds in kids can be very different from adults. Today Bethann and Chrissie are speaking with Kate Lannan, MSW, LSW, Community Services Director at A Haven, a nonprofit organization supporting grieving families and children. We discuss how grief presents differently in kids at various ages and how “play is processing and behavior is communication”. Kate explains ways to support kids while also taking care of ourselves during this time, and how to have conversations about death that are honest, factual, and brief. We also discussed how grief can come and go, that it is normal to feel distressed, and we can’t fix our feelings…but we can try to process them with support. Join us!

Things we mentioned in this episode:

 

A Haven has great online resources to support talking about grief and loss

 

Bethann mentioned using books to support conversations–here is a list from A Haven

 

A Haven is a nonprofit organization located in Exton, PA, focused on supporting grieving children with a family-centered approach. A Haven acknowledges that empowering families to walk through grief together is an important piece in supporting a grieving child. Research now reveals that the number one determining factor on how a child grieves is how the parent/guardians grieve. A Haven provides grief support through groups, community outreach, and educational resources. Follow A Haven on Facebook and Instagram. 

 

A Haven is also having an Open House on March 8th from 8-10am if you wanted to stop in to see their space!

 

CTC is launching Parent to Parent Peer Support Groups to provide a safe space for parents to get advice and support from other parents. Learn more about these groups and when they meet!

 

Join us at our Second Annual Snowball Shuffle 5k Run/1 Mile Walk on March 4th at Eagleview Town Center at 9am.

 

You can now follow Chrissie on Instagram @ctc_chrissie or on Facebook /@Chrissie.CTC for info from each episode, Parent to Parent blog updates, and other parent resources. You can also email Chrissie at cdziembowski@dtownctc.org We would love to hear from you!

 

Communities that Care has a Parent to Parent Blog and many online resources. Please follow us on socials for more tips, resources and support!:

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Find the episode webpage and previous episodes HERE.