Grief & Loss
When children experience grief and loss, parents and carers want to care for and nurture them in ways that will lovingly support young people in their grieving. Firstly, it's important to recognise that children and adolescents will experience and react to grief in their own unique ways.
An adolescent’s grief can be impacted by any number of things including but not limited to, their unique relationship with the person, how the person died, their support system, past experiences with death, and their own unique strengths and weaknesses when it comes to dealing with stress, adversity, and high emotion. Adults seeking to support an adolescent should try to remember that a wide range of responses are considered ‘normal’ and there’s no one formula for providing support.
Fortunately, conventional wisdom says the best way to support a grieving adolescent is to ‘companion’ them, which is just a fancy way of saying be there for them which you, as parents and carers, already know how to do. You can ‘companion’ a teen by supporting them, talking openly and honestly, listening, allowing them to grieve how they want, and allowing them to decide how they will cope (with the exception of self-destructive behaviours).
It’s important to emphasise the above because at the end of the day the best advice will always be to walk with the adolescent through their grief while still honouring our responsibilities as parents to draw limits, provide guidance, and set a good example.
What’s Your Grief advises for children of any age you do the following:
- Acknowledge their presence, their importance, their opinions, thoughts, and feelings.
- Be patient and open-minded. Allow them to grieve in their own way.
- Be available – sit with the child, listen to them, and answer their questions.
- Let them know that a range of different emotions is normal.
- Validate their feelings and do not minimise them.
- Check in with other adults involved in their life – teachers, school counsellors, coaches.
- Find age-appropriate resources.
For many children, this may be their first experience with death. For significant relationships, children may come to define their lives in terms of ‘before’ the death and ‘after’ the death. After a death, adolescents may experience the following for the first time:
- End of life rituals and etiquette: Many children have yet to attend a funeral or memorial service well into their teen years. Rituals and etiquette may cause anxiety for adolescents, especially if they don’t know what to expect or how to act. Additionally, teens may be uncomfortable with the feeling of being watched as everyone observes them to see how they’re coping. Talk about what, if any, elements they would like to be a part of and what, if any, they can opt out of. Encourage them to participate but don’t force.
- Emotions: For adolescents who have little experience with trauma, death, pain, or stress, this will be the first time they experience the overwhelming emotions related to grief. This can be frightening and many don’t have the self-awareness to know what types of coping strategies will help. Normalise the range of emotions grievers are likely to experience. Prepare them for shifts in emotion and give them permission to laugh and feel happy when they feel like it. Help them brainstorm coping strategies based on their personality and strengths. Offer options such as counselling, journaling, and workbooks, but don’t push.
- Big Questions: When faced with the death of a person, particularly if it is an unexpected death or the death of a young person, some teens may begin to ponder the deeper questions: "Why did this happen?" "What does death mean?" "What do I understand about the purpose of life?". You can support your child by:
- being open to conversations about these topics
- sharing your beliefs and thoughts
- seeking out support from members of your church or community who might be able to talk these concepts through with your teen.
Our school seeks advice and has a coordinated and planned response. This approach enables students, staff and the wider school community to return to regular routine as soon as possible. Consistency and predictability of the routine can be settling for students in a complex, difficult and unpredictable time. We partner with key agencies to maximise the response to our school community.
Some may perceive this as being disrespectful to the student or the family but a school’s response comes from a place of care and love and an understanding of the complexity of the suddenness and shock experienced.
Our aim for the next few weeks is to focus on the importance of:
Connection
Teachers and school staff will connect with students and check in on them regularly. They will let them know that they are available to listen. When teens are listened to and supported, they are more likely to be open about their needs and discuss options for further help.
Relationships
Teenagers often look to their peers for support when times are tough, so we encourage our students to connect with friends in a safe environment. We remind students that putting time into relationships can help them feel connected, boost their energy and, ultimately, help them keep a healthy headspace.
Self Care
We share the importance of self care as a coping strategy so they are physically and mentally healthy. We remind the students the importance of nutrition, movement and sleep health on our brain and mental health. We encourage our students to continue to participate in enjoyable activities, such as sports or hobbies, and try to maintain routines as much as possible.
- Exercise regularly - it reduces stress and is a great way to improve physical and mental health.
- Schedule in down time - block out time for you.
- Unplug - make time each day to turn off your phone, log-out of your email, step away from the computer and go outside and be present.
- Get plenty of sleep - sleep helps the brain function properly, without it, you may have trouble making decisions and solving problems.
- Healthy eating is one of the best forms of self-care.
- We encourage our students to be kind to themselves and their peers.
Maintain normal routines as much as possible
Routines and structure provide some certainty and comfort to students, which is often lost temporarily during a traumatic event. It can be a comforting experience for students as they know what to expect and they can feel in control. We encourage our students to return to school and engage in learning experiences.
Encourage healthy conversations
We encourage our students to understand that grief is complex and how we experience an event will be different. We encourage healthy online behaviours and we support and encourage students to develop positive ways to handle tough times to increase their resiliency.
Encourage help-seeking
We encourage students to seek help. Our students are reminded of the support options available. This will allow them to choose a person they feel comfortable with and increases the likelihood that they will ask for support. Options for support could be a family member or trusted adult, such as a teacher or school counsellor.
headspace
headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation. Headspace supports young people with mental health, physical health, alcohol and other drug services, as well as work and study support. With a focus on early intervention, we work with young people to provide support at a crucial time in their lives – to help get them back on track and strengthen their ability to manage their mental health in the future. The headspace website offers free resources for young people between the ages of 12 and 25 years old.
Grafton headspace Office
59 Duke Street, Grafton Phone (02) 66421520
Students can access support from the Grafton headspace office. Students or a parent can call the Grafton centre and the 'duty roster' staff member can talk to the student for a single session and help them with their next steps or just have a chat.
Website https://headspace.org.au/
Hours of Operation
Monday 12.00pm - 6.00pm
Tuesday 8.00am - 6.00pm
Wednesday 8.00am - 5.00pm
Thursday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Friday 9.00am - 4.00pm
eheadspace
Free online counselling for young people aged 12 and 15 years via phone or online. The first step to access this support is to create an account.
https://headspace.org.au/online-and-phone-support/
Grief Line
Griefline supports anyone experiencing grief, facing any type of loss, providing access to free telephone and online support services and resources. You can encourage your child to use the service or you could ring them for advice.
Website https://griefline.org.au/
Phone 1300 845 745
Kids Helpline
Kids Helpline is Australia’s free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25 years old.
Phone 1800 55 1800
Email a Kids Helpline Counsellor https://kidshelpline.com.au/get-help/email-counselling/
Website https://kidshelpline.com.au/
Mental Health Access Line
The Mental Health Access Line is a NSW Health service staffed by mental health professionals. This service gives NSW residents access to expert mental health advice, support and referrals. Where appropriate they can put you in contact with the local mental health crisis or acute care team.
Website https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/Pages/mental-health-line.aspx
Phone 1800 011 511
My Circle
A free, private, safe and confidential social platform for 13 to 25 year olds. My Circle lets you talk to others going through challenges too. You can share your thoughts, get helpful info, and lots more. My Circle is supported by Kids Helpline counsellors and lets you talk to other young people going through challenges.
Website https://kidshelpline.com.au/my-circle
Parentline
Parent Line is a free telephone counselling and support service for parents and carers with children aged 0 to 18 years old who live in NSW.
Website https://www.parentline.org.au/
Phone 1300 1300 52
Qlife
QLife provides Australia-wide anonymous, LGBTI peer support and referral for people wanting to talk about a range of issues including identity, gender, feelings and relationships. QLife services are free and include both telephone and webchat support delivered by trained LGBTI community members across the country from 3pm-midnight everyday. Services are available for LGBTI individuals, their friends and families, and health professionals in Australia. QLife is funded by the Australian Government and operates as a unique partnership model.
Website https://qlife.org.au/
Phone 1800 184 527
ReachOut
Reach Out is a free online coaching service for parents and carers to help create clarity and increase confidence to support your teen through a tough time.
Website https://parents.au.reachout.com/one-on-one-support
RUOK?
R U OK? is a harm prevention charity that encourages people to stay connected and have conversations that can help others through difficult times in their lives. RUOK? offers free resources for students, both primary and secondary, to learn how to support their peers and talk about how they feel is an important life lesson, so where better to start than in the classroom? These resources for primary, secondary and tertiary educators and institutions will help students everywhere start a conversation.
Website https://www.ruok.org.au/
Liveable
11 Kemp St, Grafton
26 River Street, Maclean
Livable is a purpose-driven not-for-profit providing a comprehensive range of NDIS, Aged Care and Family Service solutions to the Mid North Coast and Northern NSW communities.
Family and Relationship Services team directly by emailing FaRS@livable.org.au or 1800289927
Yarn
13YARN ensures Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping can receive culturally safe and appropriate health services where and when they are needed 24/7
Phone 13 92 76
Website https://www.13yarn.org.au/
