As we acknowledge Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s important to highlight the ongoing systems that support youth on a daily basis. The Children’s Room recognizes and appreciates the role that schools and community-based agencies play in providing stability, consistency, and access to a range of services for children and teens. School-based services and community agencies increase accessibility and equitability as they are located within the child or teen’s daily environment. Among the supports available to students are oftentimes school adjustment counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and guidance counselors.
The availability of mental health services within the school and community is indispensable as both temporary and ongoing support for students experiencing depression, anxiety, or stressors such as loss, life changes, or other transitions. For students who have experienced a death loss, these places often provide comforting stability and a sense of normalcy, as they offer a consistent place, routines, and familiar faces. Grieving youth may also appreciate the independence these settings bring. They allow them to define themselves separately from their family – forming relationships with peers and staff and sharing their experiences when they feel ready.
For these reasons, The Children’s Room collaborates to offer School & Community-Based Grief Support Groups. We recognize the value and importance of providing quality, trauma-informed grief support in students’ daily environments. These peer support groups are offered for children and adolescents (1st – 12th graders) who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or other close family member. Through each group series, TCR is able to support youth who may not have otherwise had access to grief support services.
During the 2022-2023 school year, TCR clinical staff members have partnered with mental health professionals from eight separate school districts to provide 70 students with grief peer support groups. Partnerships have included towns such as Andover, Waltham, Salem, Lowell, Easton, Billerica, Reading, and Saugus. One of our school partners shared, “Having a grief support program at school lets students know they are not alone. There are staff and other students who can offer them support.”
Students have also expressed that participating in a School-Based Grief Group has taught them they are not alone in their grief. One wrote, “In this group, I learned that everyone has been/is going through something and that you do not know by looking at them.” Another shared, “I learned that others are going through similar emotions to me,” and “Sharing with others is a good way to help people cope. Thank you for giving me this space… I love this group!”
As the 2022-2023 school year comes to a close, TCR continues to look forward to expanding our support of grieving students in the upcoming school year. We are currently connecting with schools and community-based agencies interested in partnering to offer: School & Community-Based Grief Support Groups, Children & Teens’ Grief Awareness Month activities, and/or Professional Development Training for their staff.
If your school or community-based organization may be interested in discussing a partnership to offer services for the 2023-2024 academic year, please CLICK HERE for more information and contact info@childrensroom.org.
This entry is by Christine Lambright, MA, MAAT, LMHC, Program Manager – School, Community, & Adolescents
