ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on how we can best help children and their families to cope with death, dying, and bereavement. I have had long-standing clinical and research interest in bereaved children (Black, 1978) and particularly in using family intervention to reduce morbidity in children who lose a parent by death (Black & Urbanowicz, 1985, 1987; Black, 1981; Lieberman & Black, 1982). There is now enough evidence to show that various counseling interventions can reduce the high morbidity found in bereaved children and adults (Black & Urbanowicz, 1985, 1987; Black, 1981; Lieberman & Black, 1982; Parkes, 1980). This led me to consider whether an intervention before bereavement might also be preventive (Black, 1989). In this chapter, I will briefly describe the results of family intervention with bereaved children and our clinical work with families in which a parent or a child has a life-threatening illness. Issues that need to be addressed when working with these families will be presented.
