Resolving Child and Adolescent Traumatic Grief: Creative Techniques and Interventions

This article presents a review of creative interventions that can be helpful in facilitating the resolution of traumatic grief in children and adolescents. Traumatic grief is conceptualized as a condition in which a person loses a close loved one (e.g., a parent or a sibling) in a traumatic manner, and ensuing trauma-related symptoms disrupt the normal grieving process. The presented creative interventions will be conceptually linked to an evidence-based, cognitive behavioral treatment model that can be used in addressing traumatic grief. The creative interventions presented will include the use of writing, storytelling, drawing, commemorating, and ritualizing in relation to traumatic grief.