ABSTRACT
Parental terminal illness and subsequent death constitutes one of the strongest risk factors for the child’s psychological well-being through childhood to adolescence and adulthood. It inadvertently and unavoidably changes the life path of the affected child and adolescent and it is followed by substantial secondary losses which exacerbate the devastating impact of parental death. Empirical data suggest that goal-oriented approaches focusing on resources can potentially boost the young people’s capacity to cope with loss and bereavement. The current chapter focuses on the illustration of our clinical work with parentally bereaved children and adolescents at CARE (C hild and A dolescent R esearch- E vidence-based practice). It starts off with laying the theoretical background to the bereaved process which informs clinical practice and continues with the illustration of our practices for accompanying the parentally bereaved children and adolescents in their journey through grief and hopefully healing via a Solution Focused pathway. It closes with our reflections of our therapeutic work with bereaved children and adolescents, as well as the future direction of Solution Focused practice for parentally bereaved youth.
