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Childhood grief & Treatment

Özgen Sarıkuş 1664069. Childhood grief & Treatment. Aliefe & Ege. Outline. What Is Childhood Traumatic Grief? What Are Some Common Signs that a Child Is Struggling with Traumatic Grief? Communicating About Death

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Childhood grief & Treatment

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  1. Özgen Sarıkuş 1664069 Childhood grief & Treatment

  2. Aliefe & Ege

  3. Outline • What Is Childhood Traumatic Grief? • What Are Some Common Signs that a Child Is Struggling with Traumatic Grief? • Communicating About Death • What are the Key Components of Childhood Traumatic Grief Treatment? • Why and How is Childhood Traumatic Grief Treated in Groups? • Conclusion

  4. 1)What Is Childhood Traumatic Grief? • Significant and special dies, it can be a very sad and painful experience for the child. • When the death occurs as a result of a traumatic event,or occurs suddenly the child may show signs of both trauma and grief. (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  5. 1)What Is Childhood Traumatic Grief? Cont. • Childhood traumatic grief is: • an intense grief response that can occur following the death of a loved one. • is different from and can interfere with the normal bereavement process following the death of a loved one. • Not all children will develop childhood traumatic grief after loosiing of loved one. • appear differently in different children. • Parents, caregivers, and important adults can help children cope with childhood traumatic grief. (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  6. 2) What Are Some Common Signs that a Child Is Struggling with Traumatic Grief? • Not all children who experience a traumatic death will develop childhood traumatic grief. • Some children will be able to grieve the loss without complications. • A small number of grieving children may develop some symptoms that can become difficult and interfere with their daily life. • Signs that a child is having difficulty coping with the death may be noticeable in the first month or two or may not be apparent until one or more years later. • (Marshall, H., 2004)

  7. 2) What Are Some Common Signs that a Child Is Struggling with Traumatic Grief? • Some of these signs include the following: • Intrusive memories about the death: are expressed by nightmares, guilt or self blame • Avoidance and numbing: are expressed by withdrawal, acting as if not upset, or avoiding reminders of the person • Physical or emotional symptoms of increased arousal: Irritability, anger, trouble sleeping, decreased concentration, drop in grades, stomachaches, headaches, increased vigilance, and/or fears about safety for oneself or others. (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  8. 3)Communicating About Death • It is helpful to begin this phase by having the child openly communicate about death in session with the therapist • The goal is: • To educate the child about death • To become comfortable talking about death, • To ask questions to develop a clear understanding of death.

  9. 3)Communicating About Death cont. A good time to assess the ability of parents to talk about death in general as well as his or her own loss (Marshall, H., 2004).

  10. 4) What are the Key Components of Childhood Traumatic Grief Treatment? • First, the child learns ways to cope with the frightening thoughts, images, feelings, and arousal associated with the traumatic event.

  11. 4) What are the Key Components of Childhood Traumatic Grief Treatment? • Mourning the loss • Addressing ambivalent feelings about the deceased • Preserving positive memories • Redefining the relationship • Committing to new relationships (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  12. A)MOURNING(MATEM) THE LOSS • Encourages the child in acknowledging what has been lost by the person’s death • The process may begin with an activity focusing on the characteristics of the person who died. This can be done by writing a new “bereavement (kayıp) book” or “drawing pictures”. • When the child becomes more comfortable talking about the person, s/he is supported to list or identify things s/he will miss sharing with the person in the future

  13. B)ADDRESSING AMBIVALENT FEELINGS ABOUT THE DECEASED • Child may feel guilty about having negative feelings such as shame or anger toward the deceased (merhum), and may think it means he or she didn’t really love the deceased person. • Important role of the therapist is to help the child to understand that it is normal to have both positive and negative feelings toward the deceased by encouraging expression of all feelings about the person. • One useful technique in this process is having the child write a letter to the deceased, in which he describes a range of feelings.

  14. C)PRESERVING POSITIVE MEMORIES • A necessary prerequisite for helping children to give themselves permission to engage in new relationships. • The parent should be encouraged to help the child recall and preserve positive memories of the deceased person. (Sezer, S.,– Saya, P., 2009)

  15. D)RE-DEFINING THE RELATIONSHIP • The often used technique is “A Drawing of Two Balloons” one is anchored to the ground and the other is floating toward the sky. • The child identifies things that she has lost in the relationship, such as going to football match together, and writes them in the floating balloon. • The child also describes things that remain in the relationship with the deceased, such as memories of fun times spent with the deceased and writes them in the balloon on the ground. • This technique assists children to understand that although some aspects of the relationship have changed, their positive memories can serve as the foundation for a new and different relationship with the person who died. • (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  16. D)RE-DEFINING THE RELATIONSHIP cont. • This technique assists children to understand that although some aspects of the relationship have changed, their positive memories can serve as the foundation for a new and different relationship with the person who died.

  17. E)COMMITTING TO NEW RELATIONSHIPS • The goal is to describe and discuss what has changed in his or her life since the death. • After the death of a loved one, children may be unwilling to establish a new relationships. They may feel that they are being unfaithful to the deceased loved one if they form new relationships. • It is curricial to help the child realize that if he or she establish new relationships it does not mean he or she loves the new person more than the person who died. (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  18. E)COMMITTING TO NEW RELATIONSHIPS cont. • One way to assist a child develop new relationships is to begin by identifying, in a list, the things that he or she used to do with the deceased person. After that, the child puts in order names of people who could fill those roles left empty by the deceased.

  19. 5) WHY AND HOW IS CHILDHOOD TRAUMATIC GRIEF TREATED IN GROUPS? • Both individual and group-based treatment address the trauma and grief-related aspects of childhood traumatic grief. However, a group-based treatment may be especially appropriate for adolescents. In addition to being cost effective, trauma- and grief-focused groups are beneficial in a number of specific ways (Goodman, R., et al. 2005).

  20. 5) WHY AND HOW IS CHILDHOOD TRAUMATIC GRIEF TREATED IN GROUPS? Cont. • For example, groups provide: • normalization and validation of emotions, • direct interaction and member-to-member feedback, • exposure to other members’ experiences, • peer support, and • mutual understanding between members. (Goodman, R., et al. 2005)

  21. 6)Conclusion • What Is Childhood Traumatic Grief? • What Are Some Common Signs that a Child Is Struggling with Traumatic Grief? • Communicating About Death • What are the Key Components of Childhood Traumatic Grief Treatment? • Why and How is Childhood Traumatic Grief Treated in Groups?

  22. Thank You!

  23. References • Grief, Bereavement, and Coping With Loss (PDQ®), Rerieved from: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/bereavement/Patient/page6 • Marshall, H (2004). "Midlife loss of parents: The Transition from Adult Child to Orphan". Ageing International29 (4): 351–367. • Sezer, S.,– Saya, P., (2009). Gelişimsel Açıdan Ölüm Kavramı, Dicle Üniversitesi Ziya Gökalp Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 13, 151-165. • Goodman, R., Cohen, J., Kliethermes, M., Kaplow, J., Epstein, C., Layne, C., Franks, R., & Blalock, A., (2005). The Courage to Remember: Childhood Traumatic Grief Curriculum GuideNational Child Traumatic Stress Network

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