Peer support is at the core of The Children’s Room and is fundamental to our mission of creating safe, supportive communities so that no child, teen, or family has to grieve alone.
Based on research, children who have experienced the death of a significant person greatly benefit from peer support reports Good Grief (Good Grief, 2021). Our Center-Based Program Manager, Jen Noonan, shares that all our programs at The Children’s Room are deeply rooted in peer support, with our family-based Peer Support Groups being one of the most utilized programs. In the previous year, The Children’s Room has served 118 families, including 105 children, through our family-based Peer Support Groups alone. Here is why:
The idea behind peer support is that people can gather together and have a sense that “others understand what I am going through.”
“When we think about grief, it is a universal experience everyone will most likely have, yet it is unique to each individual, meaning grief does not look the same or feel the same for each person,” shares Jen. “Sometimes we hear that grief can feel isolating and that it is hard for others to understand what a grieving person is going through,” she adds. Being in a peer support environment can foster a sense of community and connection. Jen says, “when you are with others who have a common experience, on a foundational level, we have found that people join together and help each other, even if it is around something as difficult as death.”
Families come to TCR together but then have their own group space.
Our family-based Peer Support Groups allow our families to come together and break out into smaller groups (based on grade level) to be with their peers. For children and teens, there is space during each group for structured activities around grief and loss, as well as an unstructured free-choice time where kids can be kids. “They can play games, spend time in our art room, or expend some energy in our ‘high-energy’ room,” shares Jen, adding, “Grief support does not look the same for everyone, even people within the same family. We hope to provide a place where families can share the experience of coming to The Children’s Room together, but can then have personal space to be with peers who know what it is like to have a significant person die in their life.”
