ABSTRACT
This chapter describes 12 essential components of therapeutic intervention with very young children and their families. It discusses 12 components that are critical to providing therapeutic intervention to young children after violent death. Understanding the parent-child relationship is a critical factor in supporting the family of a young child in meeting the family's therapeutic goals. Knowledge of the history of the parent-child relationship, and the effects of the traumatic loss on the quality of the relationship, is acquired through observation of parent-child interactions, listening to the parent's presentation of both the child and their relationship, and to some extent direct communication from the child. In many circumstances, especially in the case of young children, caregivers are experiencing the traumatic loss along with the children. The 12 components discussed in the chapter provide the common topics when working with young children after a violent death.
