ABSTRACT
The following four care-giving skills are excellent tools to use in counseling and supporting a grieving child:
Perceive—We need to perceive that children do grieve.
Understand—The child’s unique feelings of grief may be difficult for adults to understand, and we must recognize how much we need to help and direct a child through their grieving time.
Respond—Once we see and understand the feelings, we need to respond to the feelings with honesty, warmth, acceptance, and a nonjudgmental attitude.
Express—We can help children to express their feelings more effectively if we are willing to share our own. We, as adults, are the role models. We can help children to express their feelings of grief through talking, writing, and drawing about them.
