This webinar is the first of a 3-part 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.

Typically, when we think about grief, we associate it with loss due to a death. Yet, we know that many children and teens struggle with complex issues such as housing insecurity, out of home placement, family members experiencing addiction, out-of-home placement, incarceration of a family member, and a host of other challenging circumstances. While not related to a death, each of these challenges is in fact a type of loss. Often these non-death losses and the grief that accompanies them go unrecognized by caring adults. In this workshop we will expand our view of grief to include death loss as well as the more ambiguous non-death losses that sometimes go unnoticed. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of the ways that children experience grief throughout their development, the principles of grief-informed practice, and tools to support children on their grief journey.

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Target Audience: Students, interns, individuals entering the field of childhood bereavement, new staff members, group facilitators, volunteers, anyone who wants to invest in their practice.
Instructional Level: Novice – 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

This session is part of the Fall 2023 Introduction to Grief Support Series. To view the other sessions, click on the title below.

Session 1: Grief 101 for the New Practitioner
Session 2: Grief Counseling Models and Interventions
This session – Session 3: Kaleidoscope of Grief: Loss in Many Forms

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify a range of experiences as grief and loss.
• Describe the ways that grief and loss impact children at home, school, and in the community.
• Discuss the principles of grief-informed practice.
• Explore three ways that a caring adult can support a child who is grieving.

Speaker Bios:

Alexa Livelsberger, MS, LCSW, is the Outreach and Education Coordinator at Highmark Caring Place, a center for grieving children, adolescents and their families where she works to heighten awareness of children’s grief through consultations, presentations and trainings for professional and community groups. Lexi has a master’s of science in social administration from Case Western Reserve University and is a licensed clinical social worker in Pennsylvania. Lexi has worked with children and families in a variety of settings throughout her career, including community mental health, kinship care, and victim service fields.

Janet Arida, PhD, earned a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in Social Work from The University of Chicago, and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a licensed clinical social worker and earned certification in Thanatology from the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Janet is currently a child grief specialist as well as the Outreach and Education Coordinator at the Highmark Caring Place in Warrendale, PA, where she oversees peer support groups for grieving children and their families. Additionally, in her role as Outreach and Education Coordinator, Janet works to heighten awareness of children’s grief through consultations, presentations, and trainings for professional and community groups. Prior to joining the Caring Place as a staff member, Janet was a clinical instructor and researcher in end-of-life issues in the School of Nursing at the University of Pittsburgh. During her career, she has worked with children, adolescents, and families in a variety of clinical and community-based settings in both the Chicago and Pittsburgh areas.

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.