Children and Teen Grief Support

Kids Need Your Permission to Grieve, Tell Them It’s Okay

This is a place where healing can begin!

Kids are like the rest of us. They don’t know how to grieve. What’s harder for a child is that they may be burying their feelings to protect you, or perhaps just are unable to express them. There are both healthy and unhealthy ways to grieve. Unhealthy grieving can have lasting effects, but not if you take steps to help. The first one is simple: Tell them, “It’s okay to grieve.”

View Our Grief Support Calendar

View/Download Current Grief Support Group & Event Information

Individual and Family Counseling

Talking about your feelings is essential to any grief recovery; for kids, giving words to their grief is often difficult. Helping children through their experience of loss may require special expertise, resources and care. The Children’s and Teens’ Grief Support Program at Pikes Peak Hospice is designed to create an atmosphere that is emotionally safe; so kids can explore and express their feelings.

Tailored for children to discuss their grief in a one-on-one or family setting.
The Children’s Grief Counseling rooms are bright and colorful — filled with toys, a puppet theater and other therapeutic tools to help children explore their experience of grief and loss.
Sessions include a mix of group interaction, age appropriate play, physical activities, and time with the Grief Counselor and volunteers.

Support Groups and Day Camps

Children’s groups are available at no cost to children related to Pikes Peak Hospice patients, and, when space is available, to kids throughout the community for a fee. Additional sessions are available on a fee-per-session basis. Parents can also consult with a counselor about how to best support children through the experience of loss. We offer helpful handouts with information and tips for supporting children, and can provide referrals when needed. Grief Counselors and trained volunteers work with children ages 3 to 18 in age-appropriate small groups.

Children’s Grief Support Groups

Support groups allow children to express thoughts and feelings and learn tools for navigating grief.

Session Dates/Times

Check back soon, sessions will resume in 2025.

Day Camps/Special Events

Grief Camps and Special Events include visits to the YMCA and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Holiday Cookie Making, Equine Therapy, and other unique opportunities designed to support the grieving process for children.

There are no camps or events scheduled at this time.

Your Role

Kids need adults to facilitate and model a healthy grieving process. A children’s group provides an opportunity for the child to learn about difficult feelings and know that they are not alone. With information and guidance of a Pikes Peak Hospice Grief Counselor, parents and guardians learn how to support their family in moving forward after loss.

Did You Know?

All children grieve, even infants grieve.
Kids experience the same emotions as adults when grieving.
A child’s understanding of death and approach to grieving will vary based on their age and personality.
Just because a child says he or she is okay doesn’t mean they aren’t hurting; kids often cannot verbalize their grief, but instead exhibit it through a change in behavior.
Children need permission to express their feelings surrounding grief.
Children grieve cyclically; they may grieve intensely for short periods of time and seem to recover before the grief returns.
Developmental stages or life events can re-trigger a child’s grief.
A child’s work is actually play, and their grief work is no different; children use play to work through their grief.

Taking the First Step

Call us and we can develop a support plan that is right for you, 719.633.3400, option #5. You can also reach us by email at BereavementTeam@pikespeakhospice.org.