{"id":1423,"date":"2020-10-30T00:10:19","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T00:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/newsite\/?page_id=1423"},"modified":"2020-11-23T00:57:14","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T00:57:14","slug":"parental-aids","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/?page_id=1423","title":{"rendered":"Parental Aids"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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PARENT\u2019S GUIDE TO HELPING CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH GRIEF AND LOSS<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parents serve a very critical role when their child experiences grief and loss. The parent needs to be a strong role model, a permission giver, and a support figure. Honesty, love, patience, and understanding will help resolve the child\u2019s grief and instill a healthy perspective about death.<\/p>\n

1. Questions about death should be answered simply and directly. Honesty is critical.
\n2. The death should be explained to the child to their level of understanding. Metaphors about plants or animals are most helpful for younger children.
\n3. Be sensitive to the differences between adults and children:
\n\u2022 Children lack adult means for resolving conflict
\n\u2022 Children have less opportunity to leave an unbearable situation
\n\u2022 Children are more likely to rely on symbolism (drawing, writing, etc.) to describe their feelings of loss
\n4. Healthy ways of grieving should be modeled by the parent sharing some of their own feelings.
\n5. Give the child time and opportunity to talk about their feelings. Listen carefully, do not interrupt or censor. Be accepting and nonjudgmental.
\n6. Avoid euphemisms like lost, <\/q>passed away,<\/q> or making references to sleep or long journeys. These can be confusing to children and cause fear.
\n7. Create opportunities for the child to vent emotions, including anger, guilt, and despair. A child should not be discouraged from crying, nor should they be told to display unfelt or uncomfortable emotions.
\n8. Signs that a child may require professional help:
\n\u2022 Denies or pretends that nothing happened
\n\u2022 Dramatic decline in school performance
\n\u2022 Develops phobias or unrealistic fears or has panic attacks
\n\u2022 Engages in socially delinquent acts
\n\u2022 Isolates self
\n\u2022 Dramatic or prolonged changes in appetite, sleep patterns, or energy level
\n\u2022 Uninterested in life
\n\u2022 Threatens suicide<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Levang, Ph.D.<\/b> Copyright 1997<\/p>\n

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PARENT\u2019S GUIDE TO HELPING CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH GRIEF AND LOSS   Parents serve a very critical role when their child experiences grief and loss. The parent needs to be a strong role model, a permission giver, and a support figure. Honesty, love, patience, and understanding will help resolve the child\u2019s grief and instill a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1423","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1423"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2261,"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1423\/revisions\/2261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/levangandassociates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}