ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a practice model that was developed at the National Centre for Childhood Grief in Sydney, Australia, which is known publicly as A Friend's Place so that children would not feel stigmatized when asked where they are going. Trauma and grief are part of early life experience for many of our community's children, adolescents, and their families. There are abundant success stories in the arts, politics, business, science, and community service, of traumatized or grieving children who go on to become successful, fulfilled adults. Availability of safe places and people, compassionate care, and constructive survival strategies have the ability to help children and adolescents learn to live with grief and develop valuable life skills. The chapter focuses on grief from death-related loss, the clinical principles involved and the model described can be adapted and applied to loss and trauma from any cause. It presents a detailed description of Chaos Theory as it applies to bereavement.
