What Teens Gained from This Year’s Grief Support Panel
For teens participating in our Teens-Only Peer Support Groups at The Children’s Room, this year’s Alumni Resiliency Panel offered a unique opportunity: hearing directly from former participants who once sat in the same groups and shared similar experiences.
Returning to The Children’s Room to speak with current teens, the panelists — former participants who once attended TCR groups themselves — shared reflections on grief, relationships, college, identity, and the ways their experiences at TCR continued to shape them over time after the death of a parent or sibling.
For many teens in attendance, hearing from young adults who were further along in their grief experience — and who had once been in their same position — felt especially meaningful.
Group Facilitator Chera reflected on how meaningful it was for teens to hear from people who were further out in their grief. Hearing from alumni who once sat in the same groups gave teens perspective and a sense of connection to what life after TCR can look like.
Throughout the evening, panelists spoke openly about how grief changes over time, and how their relationships, perspectives, and understanding of themselves have continued to evolve as they’ve gotten older.
Former participant Maggie, who has returned to participate in the Alumni Resiliency Panel over the years, reflected on how meaningful it has been to stay connected to TCR over time.
“Being able to give back to a place that helped me through some of the darkest times of my life is such a rewarding and meaningful experience,” she shared. “I hope teens were able to take away that they are not alone.”
The conversation offered teens an opportunity to see that there is no single way to grieve, and that while grief remains part of a person’s life, it can shift over time as they grow, take on new experiences, and move through different stages of life.
Group Facilitator Laurie reflected on how powerful it was to witness teens quietly taking in those stories.
“I think the teens were seeing that the alumni panelists came back as whole people with full lives — they went to college, they’ve grown up, they’re doing things,” she shared. “It was a living example of survival and resilience.”
Group Facilitator Jeffrey also reflected on how meaningful it was for teens to hear a range of experiences and perspectives from alumni at different stages of life.
“Having people at different parts of their grief come back and speak about their experiences both at TCR and since then was something the teens really appreciated,” he shared. “That variety of experiences and perspectives felt really beneficial.”
Through peer support groups, teen events, and conversations like the Alumni Resiliency Panel, The Children’s Room creates spaces where grieving teens can connect with others who understand their experiences and feel less alone.
After the panel, several former participants stayed to reconnect–– sharing memories, talking together, and recognizing pieces of artwork they had created years earlier that are still displayed at TCR. For staff and volunteers, those moments were a powerful reminder that the connections formed within this community often continue long after teens leave groups.
For current teens, the evening offered something equally meaningful: the opportunity to see that while grief changes over time, connection and support can remain part of their lives as they grow.
