This webinar is part of an ongoing series that will provide a foundation of introductory information for anyone working with or providing support to children, teens, and families who may be grieving. This series is not progressive; sessions can be viewed in any order.

In this session, disaster response and recovery experts from Aftermath Solutions will provide an overview of childhood trauma and grief in the wake of terrorism, targeted violence, and traumatic events, and offer effective strategies for early intervention, establishing safety and trust, and building protective factors in children and caregivers. Aftermath Solutions is a collaborative of practitioners leveraging lived experience from frontline work with hundreds of communities after human-caused and natural disasters to advise on community preparedness, recovery, and resilience. Presenters are subject matter experts in mass violence response, community resilience, and trauma recovery in the public and private sector.

Each year, 60% of children in the U.S. have experienced or witnessed an act of violence in their home, school, or community, and 40% are direct victims of two or more violent acts. (OJJDP, 2020) One in 12 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the age of 18. (Judi’s House, 2022) Throughout 2025, family exposure to trauma and grief has been permeated with a high prevalence of mass shootings in schools and community spaces, multiple incidents of targeted political violence, increased focus on community grief, and elevated rates of anxiety among parents and children. Promoting and restoring safety can be a protective factor from adverse health outcomes. (He et al, 2025)

Grief due to violence and traumatic events can be protracted and complicated, and reactions vary among children and individuals based on developmental stages, cumulative adverse childhood experiences, and risk and protective factors. Key recommendations to improve outcomes for children and families experiencing trauma and grief due to traumatic events include: establishing safety, trust, and strong social supports; adopting trauma-informed approaches in schools and family-facing community services; providing preparedness and prevention education; ensuring clear, strengths-based communication; and leveraging partnerships and collaboration to ensure coordination of care.

Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for this webinar.
Target Audience: Students, interns, individuals entering the field of childhood bereavement, new staff members, new counselors, group facilitators, volunteers, anyone who wants to invest in their practice.
Instructional Level: Basic – This best describes a topic or issue that the prospective audience is encountering for the first time in a meaningful way.
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

Cost: Free for NACG Members; Non-Members: $20 per session, $50 for Whole Series

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 →

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Define the elements of a trauma-informed approach to supporting children through grief in the aftermath of a human-caused or natural disaster.
• Identify risk factors and protective factors for youth impacted by trauma and grief. Risk factors vary widely for youth and may include poly-victimization or multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), isolation or withdrawal, a lack of social or emotional supports, disruptions in family dynamics or instability, and attraction to social or peer communities that promote negative coping mechanisms.
• Demonstrate effective strategies and interventions for supporting parents, caregivers, and supportive adults in helping children navigate grief after a traumatic event.
• Define common and more complex trauma and grief reactions in children and methods to increase protective factors and promote recovery and resilience.
• Differentiate between trauma-informed communication strategies that can boost engagement and create safety and trust and those that may increase stigma, lead to confusion, or create barriers. What to say / what not to say.

Speaker Bios:

Sallie Lynch, MA, is a highly accomplished consultant with over 25 years of expertise in nonprofit leadership, specializing in tragedy response and community resilience. Known for her ability to facilitate peer connections and long-term healing, Sallie has empowered individuals, families, and communities impacted by terrorism, targeted violence, military conflict, and widescale trauma and loss. A mass violence response subject matter expert and consultant to the U.S. Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC-TTAC), she delivers strategic guidance to frontline service providers, community leaders, and survivors in the U.S. and worldwide. Sallie is co-founder of Aftermath Solutions, a disaster response collaborative, co-founder of S.T.O.P. (Survivors of Tragedy Outreach Program), a coalition of survivors and nonprofits impacted by and responding to terrorism and mass violence, and serves on the board of Dignity Beyond Borders, a safe community for global survivors of terrorism, war, and mass violence.

Throughout her career, Sallie has strengthened the capacity of both large and grassroots nonprofits to launch transformative initiatives in disaster response, international victim advocacy, trauma and grief support, counterterrorism and targeted violence prevention, humanitarian relief, education, family engagement, child development, and elder care. As an accomplished fundraiser, Sallie has secured substantial institutional support for high-impact projects addressing trauma, loss, and mass casualty events, including multiyear six- and seven-figure grants from federal and private institutions to advance resilience and recovery programs in response to terrorism, targeted violence, and the COVID-19 pandemic. An expert facilitator, she has led cross-cultural resource-sharing and training sessions with victim service providers from 34 countries, fostering global collaboration and innovation. She has held leadership roles and consultancies with a range of U.S. and international nonprofits guiding on fundraising and development, program design and delivery, outreach and communications, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy and policy, and education and curriculum development. Her previous roles include Director of Development at the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Senior Program and Development Consultant at Tuesday’s Children, and Research Coordinator for the FDNY/Columbia University Family Program.

Sallie is an experienced media spokesperson and public speaker, having addressed distinguished audiences at venues such as the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice and the United Nations. She is co-author of “FDNY Crisis Counseling: Innovative Responses to 9/11 Firefighters, Families and Communities” (Wiley, 2006), and her work on long-term healing, community resilience, and peer support has been published in leading U.S. and international journals. Sallie coordinated a landmark longitudinal research and intervention program for 9/11 widows and children in partnership with Columbia University School of Social Work and the FDNY Counseling Service Unit. She has served on the Training Subcommittee for Vibrant Emotional Health’s Crisis Emotional Care Team (CECT) and was a founding Advisory Board member for Peace of Mind Afghanistan (PoMA), a national initiative to advance mental health awareness. Sallie holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University and a BA in Cultural Studies from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and is certified in Psychological First Aid (PFA) and as a Grief Educator.

Amy O’Neill, DHSc, MS, LPC, is a clinician, consultant, and educator with over 30 years of experience in the mental health field, at the local, national, and international levels. As a survivor of the Boston Marathon Bombing, Dr. O’Neill’s combination of lived and learned experience is especially relevant to and resonant with victims of mass violence. She has developed learning communities, presented at national and international conferences, and provided trauma-informed care, support, and consultation to individuals and communities affected by terrorism and mass violence, including those in Minneapolis, MN, Virginia Beach, VA, Gilroy, CA, New Orleans, LA, Columbine, CO, Nashville, TN, Perry, IA, Allen, TX, and provided expert consultation in response to the Weisser School Shooting in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. O’Neill is a member of the consultant networks for the NMVC (National Mass Violence Center), the OVC VOCA Center, and the OVC TTAC (Mass Violence Response). She has served on various committees and advisory groups, including the NMVC Survivors & Providers Steering Committee, the Crisis Emotional Care Team for Vibrant Emotional Health providing support for Afghan evacuees, the advisory committee for the DDH peer support network and Steering Committee for the Disaster Distress Helpline, the Disaster Mental Health Team for the American Red Cross, and the Survivors of Tragedy Outreach Program for Tuesday’s Children.

Dr. O’Neill is a member of the European Union Hub of Experts on Victims of Terrorism and provided expert consultation on the response to the Weisser Ring School Shooting in Austria. She contributed testimony to the development of the United Nations Model Legislative Provisions for the Rights of Victims of Terrorism, specifically with regard to the importance of access to justice for victims of terrorism and the importance of memorials. At the First Global Congress for Victims of Terrorism, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, she presented on the importance of remembrance and memorials to those impacted by terrorism.

Dr. O’Neill maintains a private counseling practice and is an Adjunct Instructor for the graduate Counseling Psychology Program at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Lecturer for the Institute of Disaster Mental Health at SUNY, New Paltz. A graduate of Old Dominion University with a master of science degree from Chestnut Hill College, she holds a doctorate of health sciences degree with a mental health concentration from Bay Path University in Massachusetts, where her dissertation focused on perceived social support in communities impacted by hate-motivated mass shootings, the findings of which are being prepared for publication.

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.