Exploring the Role of Social Media in Child and Adolescent Grief

Exploring the Role of Social Media in Child and Adolescent Grief

Social media is an integral part of almost everyone’s life today, especially children and adolescents. This form of connection can digitally put them in contact with others who may share their thoughts and feelings when physical contact is not wanted or available. These connections can provide much-needed support for a child or adolescent who is grieving while allowing them the opportunity to maintain their privacy and anonymity if so desired. While the opportunity for connection can be helpful, social media can also present challenges to children and adolescents who are grieving. The same anonymity that may allow for freer expression of thoughts and feelings may be used by others to manipulate, bully, or even extort children and adolescents. This webinar will share ways that social media can be used to support children and adolescents who are grieving, some potential challenges in its use, and ways social media can be used in the memorialization process.

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Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
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

 

Objectives:

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • Identify two benefits of the use of social media by children and adolescents who are grieving.
  • Identify two potential challenges of the use of social media by children and adolescents who are grieving.
  • Identify two ways children and adolescents can use social media in the memorialization process.

 

Speaker Bios:

Adam W. Carter, Ph.D., joined the NACG in 2021 as National Clinical Director. He is a professional counselor and counselor educator who received his doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision, with an emphasis in multicultural counseling, from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Adam has taught courses in CACREP-accredited master’s level clinical mental health programs and doctoral level courses in counselor education and supervision and served as the Trauma-Informed Counseling Graduate Certificate coordinator at Northern Illinois University. During his time at Northern Illinois University, he founded the Center for Grief and Loss at the University’s Community Counseling and Training Center, where he provided clinical supervision and education to counselors in training. Adam has an ongoing program of research and scholarship that focuses on early childhood grief responses and preparing counselors in-training to work with grieving children. Adam’s scholarly work also includes numerous peer-reviewed presentations focusing on topics such as trauma-informed counseling, play therapy, and developing research skills in counseling practitioners. His clinical experience is broad, having worked as a counselor and supervisor in community mental health clinics, in-home intensive settings, community advocacy agencies, and private practice. In 2014, Adam was one of two inaugural Scholars-in-Residence with the American Counseling Association and helped develop strategies for empowering clinicians to conduct single-subject design research in community settings. In the fall of 2020, Adam was acknowledged for his work in the field of grief counseling and death education by earning the designation of Fellow in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

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

Data & Evaluation Training Series #1: Data Basics

Given limited resources and stretched capacity, data collection procedures and program evaluation strategies at the individual program level often fall short in terms of identifying gaps in service, areas for growth, and program impact. Today, philanthropic giving demands quantifiable return on investment in exchange for donations and grants. Combining nearly 20 years of experience in designing bereavement-focused evaluation protocols with the power of the CBEM, with philanthropic support provided by the New York Life Foundation and in collaboration with the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), Judi’s House/JAG Institute offers a series of free trainings to share best practices in data collection and program evaluation.

This first workshop on Data Basics will outline where to start with essential data capture for process evaluation and highlight how organizations can capitalize on what they may already be collecting as well as what community data are available. Presenters will discuss the role of data in the childhood bereavement field, review data fundamentals (e.g., types and sources of data) using accessible examples, and provide tips on how to start strong with data gathering to help tell your story.


Continuing Education (CE) credits are not available for webinar playbacks.
Target Audience:Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic
Format: Live Interactive Webinar

Objectives:

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify key data sources for evaluation
  2. Discuss types of data and when to utilize them
  3. Explain how to establish practical strategies for gathering data

 

Speaker Bio:

Maria Bartini, PhD, is the Evaluation Manager at Judi’s House/JAG Institute. With a doctoral degree in Life-Span Developmental Psychology from the University of Georgia, she has over 20 years’ experience teaching research methods, statistics, and child development at the college level. In her academic career, she also conducted evaluation research in schools, colleges, and youth sports organizations with the overarching goal of improving the lives of children and adolescents. In addition to heading the organization’s Childhood Bereavement Changemaker Initiative, Maria contributes to the evaluation and research activities at Judi’s House. Her work focuses on building evaluation/data utilization capacity in the field of childhood bereavement and evaluating the impact of Judi’s House services. She can be reached at mariab@judishouse.org.

Maddy Saunders, MS, works as a Research Associate at Judi’s House/JAG Institute. In her role, she helps lead the Childhood Bereavement Changemaker expansion, collaborating with organizations across the country to support implementation of data-informed strategies in decision-making, program implementation, and evaluation. Maddy holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology with concentrations in Evaluation Research and Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. She can be reached at maddyv@judishouse.org.

 

New York Life Foundation logo

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

Inventory of Youth Adaptation to Loss (IYAL): Opportunities & Challenges

What Happened to You? Incorporating Trauma-Informed Practices in Grief Work

Lost & Alone: Widowed Parents Share Firsthand Experiences & Perspectives

Establishing a Trauma-Informed Parent-Child Relationship in the Wake of Covid

For some grieving families, Covid-19 was the catalyst for nonstop stress, distress, and trauma. Literature shows that under persistent states of stress, family systems can become compromised in areas such as parenting practices, communication, routines, structure, and emotional cohesion (Sheidow, et al., 2014). Research shows that strong family cohesion, positive parenting practices and structure are associated with building resiliency in youth (Haine et al., 2008). Incorporating an evidence-based framework of Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC), attendees will be able to increase their knowledge in these three domains and receive applicable interventions to utilize in a group setting that help facilitate the restoration of familial cohesion between caregivers and youth (Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2018). The ARC framework is effective with diverse populations, across various developmental stages, and can be applied in clinical and nonclinical settings (Arvidson, et al., 2011). Each domain of ARC is concurrently supported with the evidence-based practices used to support grieving youth and families.”

Working with Grieving Immigrant Youth

Motherless Daughters and the Long Arc of Grief: How Women’s Stories of Early Loss Evolve Over Time

Living Well in the Face of Death: A Conversation with Hospice and Palliative Care Physician B.J. Miller

Translating the Unique Needs of Grieving Young Adults Into Effective Support Group Services

*This playback is available for active NACG members only.