Grief Techniques for Adolescents

Adolescents grieve differently than adults and children. They often work very hard to hide their emotions or express their feelings. It can be difficult to get a grieving teenager to open up. Therapists use some techniques in order to help adolescents express their grief.

Peer Counseling

• Adolescents often only open up to peers or someone who has been through a similar situation. Trust is a critical component of therapy, and many teenagers only trust other teenagers. One technique is to have the grieving adolescent talk to a peer counselor. Peer counselors are trained on different topics such as grief, depression or suicidal behavior. They help encourage the grieving teenager to open up and can help direct the adolescent to professional help if needed.

Group Therapy

• Grief support groups are used to help an adolescent deal with grief. Adolescents can feel less isolated if they're in a group with other teenagers who have also experienced death. A grief group can also encourage teenagers to open up about their experiences and emotion when they see their peers sharing. Groups can become an important support for a struggling adolescent who may not feel supported in any other way.

Creative Techniques

• Many teenagers don't want to talk about their emotions but may feel more comfortable expressing themselves creatively. Some therapists have teenagers create a collage using magazine pictures and words to express their feelings. Other techniques include drawing, painting or writing a poem to the loved one who died. Adolescents can write a song about their feelings. Teenagers should be encouraged to keep a journal in which they can privately express their feelings and emotions.

Psychodrama and Rituals

• Although many adolescents may not want to talk about the loss, they may be encouraged to act out their feelings. Therapists can utilize the empty-chair technique to encourage adolescents to talk to the deceased loved one. Therapists can have teenagers write a letter to their loved one and burn it. They may want to attach the letter to a balloon that they can release, or put the note in a bottle and throw it in the ocean.