{"id":23600,"date":"2026-06-05T11:27:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/?p=23600"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:27:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:27:57","slug":"helping-children-and-teens-navigate-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/helping-children-and-teens-navigate-grief\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Children and Teens Navigate Grief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The death of someone important in your child\u2019s life can have a deep emotional impact.<\/p>\n<h1>Signs Your Child or Teen May Need Support<\/h1>\n<p>We all grieve in our own unique ways, and your child is no different. Common responses to grief in children include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Feeling angry, depressed, or experiencing other mood changes<\/li>\n<li>Withdrawing from social activities<\/li>\n<li>Experiencing problems sleeping or loss of appetite<\/li>\n<li>Declining school performance<\/li>\n<li>Engaging in risk-taking behaviors<\/li>\n<li>Regressing to younger behaviors like bed wetting or thumb sucking<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>How Caregivers Can Help<\/h1>\n<p>Meet your child where they are and follow their lead. They may not feel comfortable talking with you and may prefer opening up to friends\u2014but your support still matters.<\/p>\n<p>You can help by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Listening without judgment about how they are feeling<\/li>\n<li>Encouraging conversations with friends or family<\/li>\n<li>Allowing them to express their emotions and validating those feelings<\/li>\n<li>Providing physical comfort when appropriate<\/li>\n<li>Being honest, calm, and patient, reminding them you are there for them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Having a reliable, caring adult in your child&#8217;s life is a protective factor for their adjustment after a death. Your presence and care are invaluable. Professional grief support services can help you as you care for your child.<\/p>\n<h1>Grief Support at Pillars Community Health<\/h1>\n<p>Even if your child feels more comfortable talking to friends, those friends may not share the same experience. Peer support connects them with individuals their age who understand their loss, helping them feel less alone.<\/p>\n<p>Buddy\u2019s Place, a program of Pillars Community Health, provides grief support for youth ages 4\u201318 and their caregivers through monthly gatherings, special events, and eight-week sessions. Families build coping skills, form meaningful connections, and receive guidance tailored to their unique grief journeys, with referrals to PCH therapists available when needed. Families are encouraged to attend Buddy&#8217;s Place for as long as it is helpful for them.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no \u201cright\u201d way to grieve\u2014and you and your child don\u2019t have to go through it alone. PCH offers support through outpatient mental health services, a <a href=\"http:\/\/708-627-4747\">24\/7 crisis hotline<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about Buddy\u2019s Place or explore additional support options, contact our Access and Referral team at <a href=\"http:\/\/708-745-5277\"><strong>708-PILLARS<\/strong><\/a><strong> (<\/strong><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/708-745-5277\">708-745-5277<\/a>)<\/strong>. Our team can help guide you to the best fit for your needs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grief is a natural response to loss, but that doesn\u2019t make it easy\u2014especially for children and teens. While children may struggle to understand that death is permanent, teens often have difficulty expressing their emotions. As a parent, grandparent, or caregiver, you can play an important role in helping them navigate grief and build coping skills.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":23603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"Helping Children & Teens Navigate Grief | PCH","_seopress_titles_desc":"Learn the signs your child may be grieving and how to support them. Find peer support at Buddy\u2019s Place. Call 708-745-5277 today.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[61,156],"class_list":["post-23600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-article","category-general-news","tag-childhood-grief","tag-grief-support"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23600"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23602,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23600\/revisions\/23602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pillarscommunityhealth.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}