Emotional and Psychological Support
- Psychological Aspects of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Hong Kong Information Center 4 page pdf
- For Talking With Children After A Disaster US Dept of Health and Human Services National Mental Health Information Center 3 page pdf
Children respond to trauma in many different ways. Some may have reactions very soon after the event; others may seem to be doing fine for weeks or months, and then begin to show worrisome behavior. Knowing the signs that are common at different ages can help parents and teachers to recognize problems and respond appropriately. - Psychological First Aid National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 47 page pdf
Psychological First Aid is an evidence-informed modular approach for assisting children, adolescents, adults, and families in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism. Psychological First Aid is designed to reduce the initial distress caused by traumatic events, and to foster short- and long-term adaptive functioning. - Disaster Mental Health Services: A Guidebook for Clinicians and Administrators National Child Traumatic Stress Network
- Emotional and Spiritual Care National Voluntary Organizations Active In Disaster 40 page pdf
Disasters impact lives – and the dimensions that express life – the physical, (a destroyed home, bodily injury), the social (disrupted relationships and routines), the psychological (intellectual and emotional) and spiritual (searching for meaning and connectedness). - Childhood Traumatic Grief Education Materials National Child Traumatic Stress Network 33 page pdf
This guide presents an overview of childhood traumatic grief, a condition that can affect children’s development, relationships, achievement, and later effectiveness in life if not treated or otherwise resolved. - Children’s Understanding and Experience of Loss and Grief Help the Hospices 15 page pdf
Children do not live long before they encounter loss and change in their everyday experience. Every year thousands of children face bereavement through the death of a grandparent, parent, sibling or friend. When someone dies, adults are understandably so engrossed in their own grief that children’s grief may be unnoticed. However, the way in which children are helped when sad things happen may have a profound effect on how they are able to adapt to loss and change throughout their lives. - The Compassionate Friends
Grief Support After the Death of a Child. The mission of The Compassionate Friends is to assist families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive.
see also End of Life page for infomation about estate planning, hospice, and dying.