Grief in Early Childhood: Healing the Present, Protecting the Future
Please join us to explore this important topic with Dr. Alicia Lieberman, Irving B. Harris Endowed Chair in Infant Mental Health, Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and director of the UCSF Child Trauma Research Program.
The death of a parent is one of the most tragic events that happen to young children because they lose the core attachment figure on whom they rely for physical caregiving, a sense of safety, and the fulfillment of emotional needs. This presentation will describe the characteristics of Child Traumatic Grief both as a normative response to losing a parent to death and as a clinical condition that emerges when the child’s mental health becomes significantly impaired. The presentation will describe intervention strategies that have proved effective to helping restore children’s healthy developmental momentum. Clinical vignettes will be used to illustrate manifestations of children’s traumatic grief and therapeutic strategies designed to heal this traumatic response.
Date & Time
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
- Describe general features of young children’s responses to the death of a parent.
- Describe specific characteristics of Child Traumatic Grief in early childhood.
- Explain helpful strategies to help a young child navigate the emotional impact of losing a parent to death.