Grief is a deeply painful, lonely, and isolating experience for many of us. When someone we love dies, a relationship ends in divorce, or you’re thrust into the grief of a global pandemic with the rest of the world, we often feel unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with our emotions.

Sadly, we haven’t been taught the information on how to navigate our grief in a healthy and meaningful way. Instead, we are told, “keep busy”, “be strong”, and “wait for time to pass”. Many of the intellectual messages we hear are not emotionally helpful and further isolate us in our pain.

Not only do we struggle to manage our own painful feelings, we struggle to effectively support our children in their grief. We often feel at a loss when it comes to identifying and supporting their emotional reactions. We tend to tell our children the very same messages we’ve been told including “don’t cry, it’ll be okay” and “don’t worry, everything will be fine”. While our intentions are good, many of these messages don’t reflect the actual feelings of our child. This misinformation can further isolate them in their pain and distract them from their healing.

The wonderful news is, no matter the reason or degree of severity, if your child is grieving, this engaging and heart-to-heart conversation will allow you to explore new ways of recognizing grief within your child and help them to heal their heart after loss. You will walk away with a deeper understanding of what grief is, the myths of grief, the various losses that can create the feelings of grief in children, the normal and natural reactions to loss, and the actionable steps to help your child heal and recover from loss of any kind.

Tickets are $20 and available on eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/helping-children-deal-with-loss-tickets-114993063348

Ashley Mielke Bio

Ashley Mielke is a Registered Psychologist, Advanced Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®, and Founder and Director of The Grief and Trauma Healing Centre Inc. in Edmonton, AB. Ashley is also an international speaker and the exclusive Canadian Certification Trainer for The Grief Recovery Institute.

Ashley is a heart-centred, purpose-driven leader, with a deep passion for serving others who have experienced loss of any kind. Ashley was called to her purpose in the wake of a number of painful losses in her own life, including the tragic death of her father. Ashley’s personal healing fuelled her passion to empower others to move beyond the pain and loneliness caused by loss and reclaim their sense of well-being and purpose. Nothing makes Ashley feel more alive than the opportunity to impact others lives through the shared human experience of loss.