Barbara Clarke, our executive director attended the National Alliance for Grieving Children’s 12th Annual Symposium in Houston, Texas. Almost 300 practitioners from the US and Canada attended these three days of workshops and key note speakers. Some of the highlights included:
- Interesting keynote from William Worden who, along with The Children’s Room’s own Phyllis Silverman, did groundbreaking research on grieving children and families in the famous Harvard University study.
- Workshop by Boston’s own Moon Balloon team presented their workshop that integrates their art therapy and storytelling.
- A fascinating workshop on perinatal loss that presented extensive research on the impact on young children when their family suffers an infant death, miscarriage, still birth or other perinatal loss. This was presented by Joann O’Leary from Minnesota.
- The Dougy Center presented their work on a new survey tool they are developing in conjunction with several field experts and universities. This tool may have broader application to other centers, like The Children’s Room.
Of course, Bo’s Place from Houston, Texas was a generous host and sponsor and all the conference attendees were invited to tour their expansive site and enjoy their hospitality. Bo’s Place is one of the largest grieve centers for children and teens in the country, and their 14,000 square foot facility was impressive.
Materials related to the Symposium will be made available to volunteers, staff and families. Contact us for specific information.
We hope to raise enough funding to send more staff to the Symposium next year which will be held in Los Angeles.
