Loss & Grief for Family Court Community
TTAC was pleased to host a webinar titled The Loss and Grief of COVID-19: Real Challenges and Practical Suggestions, specifically for partners of the Strong Starts Court Initiative for Infants and Toddlers, presented by Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D., Gerard Costa, Ph.D., IMHM-C, Gilbert M. Foley, Ed.D., IMH-E (IV-C) & Susan Chinitz, Psy.D.
Life as we know it has been drastically altered by COVID-19 with worry about whether the world will ever be the same and anxiety about illness and even death cast over daily life. The losses in our daily lives are many including losing the presumption of health to the expectancies of daily life including food security for some For most, the grief related to COVID-19 will likely be temporary and related to missing what we had and did, much of which may return even in a way that is somewhat different and we will adjust to the “new normal”. For many, however, and for many children, the losses will be permanent and profound, including the loss of grandparents, parents, foster parents and other important attachment figures. In these cases, both adults and children will have to process the grief. Grief is a normal process through which we all come to cope with and heal from losses in our lives. However, grief is a particularly complicated process for children under 5 who are not yet developmentally able to understand the permanency or the unintentionality of death, and who have extreme dependence on their primary caregivers for feelings of safety and security.
This discussion focused on the nature of grief surrounding COVID-19, with a particular focus on young children, recognizing that grief has no timeline and every pattern of grieving is individual. The presentation provided real and practical suggestions related to how to talk to, listen to and help children adjust and be supported. A combination of topic-specific presentations by each presenter and discussion among the presenters was used to present the material. Some of the topics discussed were: the developmentally based expectable reactions of young children to the losses of COVID, how to talk to children about illness and death, the importance of structure, schedules and rituals in a time of change, the normalcy of anxiety with uncertainty, the importance of co-regulation in helping children manage emotions and behavior, the self-healing and regulatory power of play, and the critical importance of culture and ethnic traditions in mourning.