Children and Teens Grief Support
Helping children (8+) and teens navigate grief in a way that feels steady, safe, and supportive.
Understanding Grief in Children and Teens
Children and teens experience grief in ways that change as they grow. Whether they are coping with the death of a loved one, changes within their family, or other significant losses, they often understand and express grief differently than adults.
Grief may come and go over time, resurfacing at new developmental stages or during important life transitions. Children and teens may not always have the words to explain what they are feeling. Having a supportive space to explore these feelings can help children and teens make sense of their grief in ways that feel manageable and safe.
Because grief is expressed differently at each stage of development, it can show up in ways that may not always look like sadness, which is why learning to recognize these patterns matters.
How Grief Can Show Up
Grief in children and teens often shows up in ways that may look different than adult grief, including:
Big emotions such as sadness, anger, worry, or irritability
Behavioral changes, including withdrawal, acting out, or changes at school
Difficulty concentrating or shifts in motivation
Physical complaints like stomachaches, headaches, or fatigue
Questions about death, fairness, responsibility, or the future
Changes in sleep, appetite, or energy
Periods of seeming “okay,” followed by renewed grief
These responses are common and may fluctuate over time. Rather than disappearing, grief grows with children, taking on new meaning as they develop and make sense of their experience.
How Therapy Can Help
Therapy provides children and teens with a supportive, age-appropriate space to process grief at their own pace. The goal is not to rush healing or force conversation, but to help them feel safe, understood, and supported as they navigate loss and begin to understand it in ways that match their developmental stage.
Therapy can help children and teens:
• Process their loss while building an age-appropriate understanding of what happened
• Express emotions in healthy and manageable ways
• Build coping skills for big feelings that accompany grief
• Develop language for experiences that feel confusing or overwhelming
• Strengthen emotional resilience and self-understanding
• Learn how to talk about their grief and share their experience with others in ways that feel safe and comfortable
• Make sense of feeling different after a loss and find ways to stay connected to others
• Feel less alone in their grief
Parents are supported throughout the process, with guidance and practical tools to help them continue supporting their child’s understanding and healing at home.
What Our Work Together Looks Like
Our work begins with a parent consultation to better understand your child or teen’s experience, needs, and strengths. Sessions are tailored to each young person’s developmental stage, personality, and comfort level.
For many children and teens, art, play therapy, and creative expression are woven into the therapeutic process. These approaches offer gentle, developmentally appropriate ways to explore feelings and experiences that may be difficult to put into words.
Sessions may include conversation, creative activities, reflection, and coping skill development. Throughout our work together, parents receive thoughtful support and updates while honoring the child or teen’s privacy and autonomy.
There is no expectation for children or teens to grieve in a certain way or on a specific timeline. Therapy meets them where they are and supports healing as it unfolds.