16-214b Walking Beside Them: Theory and Practice with Grieving
Children– 6 Hour Seminar
Lisa B. Zeitz, L.M.S.W.
Thursday June 23, 2016 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Course Description
This course will address theory and practice in work with children from four to eighteen as they grieve the death of a
parent, sibling or primary caretaker. Some of the topics addressed will include: explanations of death and its aftermath,
including burial and cremation, through a developmental lens; children's naturally egocentric understanding of causality
and blame surrounding a death; secondary losses, including real, pragmatic concerns for children in grieving families;
children's changing sense of self and their place in the world in the light of a death and how to address differences in
attitudes towards death and grief across racial, cultural, religious and class divides. We will look at successful models for
work with children and how they are organized and executed. This will include an examination of treatment with
individuals, within family contexts and a close examination of a successful group support based model of care. I will
provide concrete models for the use of play and hands on activities for children through adolescence. The flow of our day
long seminar will move from theory to practice and be enriched by case studies from a thirty year long career " walking
beside" grieving children and their families. Writings by grieving children and adolescents , our most valuable teachers,
as well as vivid case studies, will enliven the exploration of this deeply profound and important work.
Faculty: Lisa Zeitz, L.M.S.W., has over 30 years of experience in the field. She began her career at NYU Medical
Center, then moved to a variety of acute care settings and a home based hospice. Fifteen years ago, she landed at The
Bereavement Center of Westchester . There she has been co- leading The Tree House , a comprehensive support program
for grieving children and their families . Ms. Zeitz has developed expertise in responding to tragedies in the broader
community and presents widely at conferences and trainings to clinical professionals and community groups.
Learning Objectives
1- To development an understanding of how children comprehend death through the developmental journey from early
childhood through adolescence.
2- To explore how children grieve differently from adults and how this impacts working effectively in this field.
3- To develop a sensitivity to differences in belief systems and demographics and learn how to work with grieving
children from a diversity of backgrounds.
4- To closely examine successful individual, family and group work with grieving children and provide supporting
research documentation.
Bibliography

Boyd- Webb, Nancy, DSW ( 2010) Helping Bereaved Children: A Handbook for Practitioners ( 3rd Edition)

Silverman, Phyllis R. PhD (2000) Never Too Young to Know: Death in Children's Lives

Primo, Joseph (2013) What Do We Tell the Children? : Talking to Kids About Death and Dying

Currier, Joseph; Holland, Jason and Neimeyer, Robert (2015) " The Effectiveness of Bereavement Interventions
with Children: A Meta- Analytic Review of Controlled Outcome Research"