Talking with Children About Loss

Table Of Contents

Foreword by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D.
Preface by Kathy Massimini
Acknowledgments

Part 1: Danger and Opportunity: The Mourning Process in Children
1. I Was a Forgotten Mourner
2. We Put Old Rover to Sleep: The Task of Understanding
3. What Did You Bring Me From Florida?: The Task of Grieving
4. What Happened to Grandpa’s Head?: The Task of Commemorating
5. Memory Embraces: The Task of Going On

Part 2: When Someone Dies
6. Don’t Hug Me: When Children Lose a Parent
7. A Care Bear for Mamaw: When Children Lose a Grandparent
8. Angels Don’t Have Headlights: When Children Lose a Sibling
9. A Video Connection with a Dying Child: Anticipatory Loss
10. AIDS and Suicide Disclosure: Mourning Stigmatic Deaths
11. Children as Living-Room Witnesses: Catastrophic Losses
12. Anatomy of a Crisis: The Rudie Dodge Story
13. Multiple Tragedies in Families and Communities: Bereavement Overload

Part 3: Nonovert Losses
14. Fragmented Families: Mourning a Divorce
15. I Think Sam Is Starting to Like Me a Lot: Blended Families
16. Mourning the Brother I Once Had: Chronic Losses
17. If It’s Unmentionable, It’s Unmanageable: Everyday Losses

Appendix: Resources for Children, Families, and Communities
Endnotes
Credits
Index