Helping Children Grieve

Few events in a child's life can affect them as greatly as the death of a loved one.

This profound new video resource offers helpful information to adults (parents, caregivers, professionals) on how to help children of all ages grieve with hope and heart. You will meet two experts: Khris Ford and Paula D'Arcy, whose personal experiences with the death of loved ones give them intimate knowledge and compassion. And you will meet others who are now in the process of helping their children through grief.

Topics covered include:

• Differences between how adults and children grieve.
• How a parent can grieve and still help a child to grieve the death of a loved one.
• Three common feelings expressed by all grieving children.
• How to be authentic and tell children the truth about death.

Khris Ford is the Founder/Executive Director of My Healing Place, Austin TX's Center for Grief, Loss, and Trauma. She has spent nearly twenty years working with children and adults who have experienced a significant or traumatic death of a loved one. She holds a Master's degree in Counselor Education, is a Certified Grief and Trauma Specialist and School Consultant, and a trained spiritual director.

Paula D'Arcy is a trained psychotherapist who has spent many years ministering to those who grieve. She worked with the Peale Foundation, founded by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, from 1980 until his death in 1993. In 1975 she survived a drunk driving accident, which took the lives of her husband and young daughter. Today her work includes leading workshops and writing books, including When People Grieve: The Power of Love in the Midst of Pain.

Helping Children Grieve is packed with solid information, sensitively presented. Parents, teachers, and counselors will find this an essential tool for understanding the needs of a grieving child. Professor, Kenneth J. Doka, PhD The College of New Rochelle Senior Consultant, The Hospice Foundation of America

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Helping Children Grieve ***1/2 (2009) 55 min. DVD: $59.95. Paraclete Press (tel: 508-255-4685, web: www.paracletepress.com). PPR. ISBN: 978-55725-649-2. Inspired by losses in their own lives, Khris Ford (founder and director of a center for loss, grief, and trauma in Austin, TX) and psychotherapist Paula D'Arcy host this sensitive and powerful guide to help young people—from five-year olds to teenagers—cope with death. A wide range of children and young people talk about the deaths of significant people in their lives--a brother, a sister, a mother, or a father—in this insightful program that also features comments from parents trying to help their kids. Although everyone grieves in a different manner (for instance, some are wracked emotionally, while others pour themselves headlong into projects), children go through the process in a markedly different manner than adults. Kids not only tend to grieve in shorter periods, but also often put their grief aside until adults have grieved. When a child dies, for instance, it is often only when the parent starts to emerge from grieving that the surviving child may feel able to grieve themselves. Surprisingly, the main emotion many children feel is not sadness but rather anxiety. Often, a child's primary question is “who in my life will die next?” This program from a faith-based publisher steers clear of any particular religious orientation, focusing instead on the universal impact on children who have lost loved ones. -Video Librarian

Aud: P (C. Block)

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Khris Ford, founder and director of My Healing Place ( a center in Austin, Texas, for grief, loss, and trauma counseling) and a certified grief and trauma specialist collaborated with Paula D'Arcy, author and pyschotherapist, to create an insightful and valuable program to provide guidance for adults trying to help children of all ages through the grieving process. The film's seven segments cover topics such as addressing a child's fear of feeling responsible or guilty regarding the death; the correlation between age and the physical expressions of grief; and the important role parents, teachers, coaches, and friends play in the healing process. Tools to facilitate a successful grieving process are presented. In interviews, parents and children speak candidly about their loss and what they have learned. Built on the firm foundation that "with the help of adults in their lives, the journey through grief for a child can be a healing experience," Ford and D'Arcy have produced a wonderful layman's approach to a difficult subject, making this not only a great addition for public libraries, but also an excellent resource for school guidance counselors or psychologists and for libraries with professional or parent collections.

School Library Journal - November 2009

Khris Ford, Founder and Executive Director of My Healing Place in Texas and Paula D'Arcy, trained psychotherapist,author of When People Grieve, are two of the leading voices in this DVD which they have lovingly created to explore two dimensions of a child's grieving process. Precious kids - ages 5,8,9 and 17 - introduce themselves and tell their stories as the film progresses.

Nuanced to include the fundamentals and refinements of a child's developmental needs, the video is an informal dialogue punctuated with input from the children who were introduced in Part One. How does one organize a "space" for a child to grieve, governed by their own expresses needs? Parents need yet more patience to endure the queries of 3-,4- 5- year olds...

The 55 minutes are divided into six easy-to-cover sessions, convenient for once-a-week meeting. This title is just one of a brilliant discussion series by Paraclete Press which includes: bullying;forgiveness; suicide; healing after abortion; and many more. Highly recommended for parents, teachers, clergy, counselors and support groups. An ideal fit for parish and community libraries.

Catholic Library World