This training provides participants with practical strategies for understanding and managing the range of behaviors exhibited by children who are grieving. Grief can manifest differently in children than in adults, often presenting as behavioral changes that can be challenging for caregivers and educators. This training will explore the unique ways children process grief at different developmental stages, common behavioral manifestations of grief (e.g., aggression, withdrawal, regression), and effective techniques for providing support. Participants will learn how to create a safe and supportive environment, utilize communication strategies that promote emotional expression, and implement behavior management techniques tailored to the specific needs of grieving children. The training will also address self-care strategies for adults supporting grieving children, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and managing their own emotional responses. By the end of this training, participants will be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to compassionately and effectively support grieving children through their behavioral challenges, fostering healthy emotional development and resilience.

Continuing Education (CE) Credits: 1.5 continuing education credits pending
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals, school professionals
Instructional Level: Intermediate – This best describes a topic or issue that the audience likely has a theoretical foundation for understanding and/or a working knowledge
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

Cost: Free for NACG Members; $60 for Guests without CEs, $75 for Guests with CEs

Not currently a member? Become a NACG member today! Your membership will provide access to free monthly webinars with CEs on current topics to support you in your work, discounts on educational events, access to all webinar playbacks, and more. To learn more and become a member to access this webinar for no additional cost, visit HERE →

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Articulate the importance of building strong, trusting relationships with grieving children and demonstrate at least one technique for fostering such relationships.
• Apply at least two communication and support strategies to create a safe and supportive environment for grieving children.
• Select and implement intervention and de-escalation techniques, matched to the intensity of the situation, using a tiered response.

Speaker Bio:

Kristen Huber MS, LPC, FT, became the Volunteer Services Coordinator at the Highmark Caring Place facility in Erie in April of 2014. Since 1996, Kristen has been working with and advocating for children who have experienced trauma in their lives. She has trained and supervised master level clinicians and has done numerous trainings on helping people understand how trauma effects a child’s development and their ability to effectively interact with those around them. Kristen has her own private practice and has been a licensed professional counselor since 2006. She has worked with children and adults that present with a variety of mental health issues.  Most of her work is focused on helping people with depression, anxiety, relationship issues, bereavement/loss and trauma. In addition to being an LPC, she has been a Certified Thanatologist since 2018. She then received her Fellow in Thanatology in 2022.

Melissa Reagan, MSW, LSW, CT, has a Bachelor’s of the Arts degree in psychology from Goucher College and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a licensed social worker in the state of Pennsylvania and has a Certificate in Thanatology. Melissa currently works at the Highmark Caring Place in Camp Hill as the Volunteer Services Coordinator and Senior Grief & Clinical Services Specialist. Prior to her current role, Melissa worked in children’s behavioral and mental health in various roles and capacities — case manager, outpatient therapist, quality services and clinical care management.  Her experience encompasses direct care provision alongside collaborative work with treatment teams, to ensure that each child’s mental and behavioral health needs were met. In her current role, she continues to use clinical and practical skills gained through previous experience to meet the unique needs of children who are grieving.

Supported by the philanthropic investment
of the New York Life Foundation.

Continuing Education (CE) Provider Information:

Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by their licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend “live” (in real-time) to earn CEs. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE process, please contact Megan Lopez at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org or at (432) 288-4688.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7221. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Counselors completing this course will receive 1.5 contact hours.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0689. Social Workers completing this course will receive 1.5 contact hours.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0238. Counselors completing this course will receive 1.5 contact hours.

National Alliance for Children’s Grief, #1819, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers.  State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. National Alliance for Children’s Grief maintains responsibility for this course.  ACE provider approval period: 07/20/2023 – 07/20/2026. Counselors completing this course will receive 1.5 continuing education credits.

Refund/cancellation policy: If you need to cancel your registration, please contact Megan Lopez at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org or at (432) 288-4688. Please note that no refunds will be given.

To request accessibility accommodations: The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is committed to providing universal access to all our events. Please contact Megan Lopez at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org or at (432) 288-4688 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

Attendance policy: To earn CEs for this event, you must attend the entirety of the event as demonstrated by your autogenerated login and logout time on the Zoom Webinar report and complete an online event evaluation within seven (7) days of the event. Please make sure you are signed into Zoom using the name that matches your professional license and not the name of your place of employment, as there is no way to verify your attendance after the fact if your name does not appear on the Zoom Webinar report. CE certificates will be sent out within 30 days of the educational event. The link for your certificate will come from “certificates@simplecert.net” as the National Alliance for Children’s Grief. Please be sure to add this email to your “safe sender list”. The NACG is unable to process certificates after 90 days from the date of the event. 

CE Certificate retrieval request: The NACG maintains continuing education records for at least six years from the date of completion of the educational event which include: the name and curriculum vitae of the presenter, a record of attendance, an outline of the course, date, and location of the course, and the number of hours for completion of the course. If you attended a CE educational event and need a copy of your CE certificate, please complete this form to obtain a copy: https://nacg.wufoo.com/forms/qfsln7r1twqpty/. Please note if the education event was more than 90 days ago, and a required evaluation was not completed, a certificate cannot be provided per the policy.

Grievance policy:  To view the NACG’s Continuing Education Grievance Policy, you can find it HERE. Please complete THIS form to share a grievance with the NACG regarding a continuing education event.