Helping children with grief and loss

Grief and loss due to the death of a loved one are hard to experience, and many want to protect children from these emotions by telling them their loved ones have “fallen asleep” or “Jesus took them.” Fr. Chris speaks with Maria Scaros Mercado, a licensed creative arts psychotherapist and board certified clinical chaplain and pastoral counselor, who reveals the importance of allowing children to grieve and to grieve with you.

We also speak with Tiffany Papageorge about her new book My Yellow Balloon, which navigates children through the experience  of love, loss, grief, and finding peace.  Tiffany shares how her award-winning book developed over 30 years to capture a sweet message that grief will pass and that the heavy feeling of loss will lift with time. Illustrated by Erwin Madrid, this book belongs in every church library and on every grief counselor’s bookshelf. You can order a copy in the OCN webstore.

This program is produced by OCN partnership

The Orthodox Christian Network produces a wide variety of multimedia resources for Orthodox Christians and seekers in three languages: English, Greek, and Spanish. It is an agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States. Founded nearly 20 years ago as a radio ministry, it continues to produce “Come Receive the Light,” a weekly radio show, and has expanded into a variety of online offerings: a weekly video newscast, a variety of podcasts, three Internet radio stations, a website and a very popular social media presence, especially on Facebook. OCN strives to work in collaboration with all Orthodox organizations and churches to communicate the message of God’s love in Jesus Christ and to strengthen the Orthodox Church in the digital age.