Even for teens, grief and loss are a part of the human condition. For teens coping with grief and coping with loss for the first time, their immediate response may be to lash out, isolate or cause harm to themselves and others. In grief and loss therapy, compassionate therapists help teens understand, cope with and get past the most emotionally challenging times of their young lives. Contact us online or call 888.291.2309 today to learn how to help with teen grief and loss.
Teen Grief And Loss
Like adults, teens suffer grief and loss. But, unlike mature adults with life experience to help them process the intense sadness in their lives, teenagers are new to coping with grief. If someone close to your teenager has passed away or if they have experienced a significant loss, like the death of a beloved family pet, or are having difficulty making sense of a major life change such as a parent’s divorce, a grief and loss therapy program can help them with coping with loss.
Tragic loss and dramatic life changes can cause teens to be confused, angry, and feel emotions they have no framework for processing. Without life skills to properly respond to and process teen grief and loss, kids may:
- Get irritated easily
- Triggered by people, places, and situations
- Act out through risky behaviors
- Be angry at everyone and everything
- Feel isolated
- Experience changes to their sleeping or eating patterns
Watching your teenager suffer can make you feel helpless. It’s painful to watch one sad and tragic thing torment a young person and create a ripple of negativity. During our grief counseling, Colorado teenagers will have the opportunity to share, open up, trust, and learn how to handle their grief, loss, and sadness healthily. Our goal is the same as yours, to help your child learn and grow, heal and move forward as a healthy, happy young adult.
Tips for Helping Your Teen Through Grief and Loss
Coping with a loss is difficult at any age but is especially tough for teenagers, who are already dealing with the ups and downs of adolescence. Here are ways you can help your teen while coping with grief.
Encourage Normalcy With Friends
Sometimes, when coping with loss, simply feeling normal and continuing to fit in can be therapeutic in and of itself. You can help with teen grief and loss by sticking to your normal routines and continuing to welcome your teen’s friends into your home. Just because a teenager is coping with grief doesn’t mean that they want to disrupt their everyday, normal life. Friends play a big role in the healing process. When it comes to teen grief and loss, your people may rely on their peers for support more than their parents, and that is okay.
Let Them Lead
Grieving teenagers should be in charge of how they feel what they say and do. You can help with their healing process by letting them take the lead in their life. With the autonomy and space to feel what they need to feel and speak about their loss in their time, they will trust you more and, over time, open up about their grief on their terms.
Doing Can Be Healing
Actions can be therapeutic and bring about healing for teen grief and loss. Whether your teen is coping with loss by making a photo album or chooses to memorialize a loved one by making t-shirts, teens may find comfort in the act of doing.
Be Honest
Your gut reaction as a parent may be to protect our kids by hiding the truth, but honesty is the best policy when it comes to teen grief and loss. They know something is happening or has happened, so it is best to be truthful about the situation to begin healthily coping with grief. Being anything less than honest may cause your teens to resent you, which will only compound the hurt and sadness.
Grief and Loss Therapy
Sometimes teen grief and loss are too much for even the strongest teen and well-meaning adult to manage together. A grief and loss therapy program like the one we offer at Imagine Fort Collins can help your teen cope with their grief, learn techniques to heal, and move forward. Grief and loss therapy is a way to give your teen the extra support they need from caring, and compassionate professionals skilled at helping teenagers manage their emotions and process grief and loss in a healthy way.
Learn More at Imagine Fort Collins
Our teen grief and loss counselors at Imagine Fort Collins are ready to provide the professional support needed to help your teen heal and recover. Don’t hesitate to call us 888.291.2309 or contact our team online today to learn more about how our grief and loss therapy program can assist.