Introduction to Grief Support Series | Navigating childhood grief and trauma exposure in the aftermath of violence and disasters
2026-11-13 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
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.

Reflection and Regulation: Art-Based Practices to Support Clinicians Working with Children in Grief
2026-12-03 12:00 - 13:30
When supporting children in grief, clinicians bring best intentions and well-developed skills to the therapeutic relationship. Yet their own histories of loss can surface, often in unrecognized ways and may shape how they engage with children in grief. Without awareness and reflection, these reactions risk complicating the healing process. Research demonstrates that previously developed relationship patterns and emotional expression influence the therapeutic relationship (Prasko et al., 2022).
Recognizing and reflecting on these experiences is essential in grief work. Equally critical is the capacity to regulate one’s own response to remain attuned and effective to the child. Clinicians themselves confirm this, “those least likely to talk about grief with their clients described feeling uncomfortable reflecting on their own grief,” highlighting the necessity of self-reflection before working with clients in grief (Blueford et al., 2022).
Using creative modalities may help in this process. As Shukla et al., (2022) note, creative activities can reduce stress, offering an accessible entry point for reflection and coping. Similarly, del Río Diéguez et al., (2024) demonstrate that creative arts therapy interventions foster emotional regulation and self-awareness, supporting counselors as they acknowledge personal grief, process emotions, and regulate more effectively.
This session introduces art-based techniques designed to foster both self-reflection and self-regulation for clinicians supporting children in grief. Drawing on international fieldwork in Ukraine during war, the presenter will illustrate how trauma-informed training, paired with art-based activities, helped psychotherapists deepen awareness of their own grief responses while working under ongoing stress and loss.
Participants will engage in a brief guided art therapy experiential to explore their own comfort with grief, reflect on their own responses, and practice methods for helping to maintain regulation while working with children in grief.

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:

Define countertransference in grief counseling and explain how a counselor’s own loss history may influence the therapeutic relationship with client.
Identify personal responses (of loss, attunement, needs) through a guided refection that may impact presence in the therapeutic relationship.
Demonstrate an art-based activity designed to increase awareness of loss and its influence on the clinical work with children in grief.
Practice an art-based self-regulation technique to manage emotional responses while working with children in grief.

Speaker Bio:
Wendy Bradley, MS, ATR-BC, CLAT, is a board certified and licensed art therapist with over 25 years experience working with children, teens and families medical, psychiatric and school-based settings. She has been in private practice for ten years now, where she focuses on children in grief and trauma. Wendy is also an adjunct professor, teaching courses in communication, psychology and child development.
In 2024, Wendy co-designed and co-directed a grief and trauma respite camp in Ukraine, where she trained Ukrainian psychotherapists and facilitated art-based interventions for children and families living in an active war zone. This work continues to inform her work with children and families, helping them process grief through safety, regulation, and connection, to build resilience.
She is also the author of “Spidey Senses”, a children’s book created to help young readers manage anxiety and strengthen coping skills through their five senses. Wendy presents at national and international conferences, sharing her expertise in trauma-informed art therapy and developmentally responsive grief work with children.

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: Find the link to the NACG’s Continuing Education Grievance Policy HERE. Please complete THIS form to share a grievance with the NACG regarding a continuing education event.
