One spring morning a gardener noticed an unfamiliar seedling poking through the ground near the rocky, untended edge of his garden . . .

So begins the parable that sets the tone for this inspiring, heartfelt classic for caregivers to bereaved children. By comparing grief counseling to gardening, Dr. Wolfelt frees caregivers of the traditional medical model of bereavement care, which implies that grief is an illness that must be cured. He suggests that caregivers instead embrace a more holistic view of the normal, natural and necessary process that is grief. He then explores the ways in which bereaved children can not only heal but grow through grief.

Illustrated throughout with specially commissioned photos of children by fine art photographer Patrick Dean, Healing the Bereaved Child also contains chapter after chapter of practical caregiving guidelines:

• My Guiding Model: Growth-oriented Grief Gardening with Bereaved Children
• Mourning Styles: What Makes Each Child's Grief Unique
• Sad/Scared/Mad/Tired/Glad: How a Grieving Child Thinks, Feels and Mourns
• How the Bereaved Child Heals: The Six Reconciliation Needs of Mourning
• Grief Gardening Basics: Foundations of Counseling Bereaved Children
• The Grief Gardener's Tools: Techniques for Counseling Bereaved Children
• Grief Gardening and the Family: A Systems Approach to Healing the Bereaved Child
• The "Cold Frames" of Grief Gardening: Support Groups for Bereaved Children
• The Child's Garden: Helping Grieving Children at School
• Grief Gardening in June: The Grieving Adolescent
• The Grief Gardener's Gazebo: The Importance of Self-Care

Part textbook, part workbook, part meditation, this exhilarating guide is a must-read for child counselors, hospice caregivers, funeral directors, school counselors and teachers, clergy, parents—anyone who wants to offer support and companionship to children affected by the death of someone loved.