Parenting a Grieving Child ─ Helping Children Find Faith, Hope and Healing After the Loss of a Loved One

Whether it's a fish, a friend, or a family member, nearly every child will experience a loss in their early years, and the experience and feelings of a sad event can be confusing and scary. And when grief intrudes, children look to their parents and the adults in their lives to fix this pain, take away what they don’t understand, and show them how to handle their emotions.

Parenting a Grieving Child provides practical and approachable resources for Catholic parents and other adult helpers who work with children to use the power and traditions of the Catholic faith to accompany children as they work through their grief in a healthy way.

As author Mary DeTurris Poust points out, too often children are left out of the grieving process and their specific grief issues are not addressed, or are addressed in harmful ways. Children’s grief is real and powerful, and it needs to be acknowledged and validated by the adults who are accompanying them through the grieving process. Drawing from the traditions and practices of the Catholic faith,Parenting a Grieving Child provides the steps parents can take to help their child through one of life’s most difficult experiences.

Mary DeTurris Poust is a writer, retreat leader, and author of six books, includingEveryday Divine: A Catholic Guide to Active Spirituality and Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image, and God. She writes about the spiritual journey on her blog,Not Strictly Spiritual, and in her monthly column, Life Lines. She lives with her husband, Dennis, and their three children in upstate New York. Visit her website at www.NotStrictlySpiritual.com.