October 9th

6-7:30pm

Light of the Valley Lutheran Church

Room 105 of the back buildings.

$5/person

It is estimated by the Children Bereavement Estimation Model (CBEM) 1 in 12 children in the United States will experience the death of a parent by the age of 18. Looking at bereavement figures in a single year shows that nearly 1,200 children under the age of 18 were bereaved every day in 2021. COVID 19 was the major contributor to this increase in bereavement for children and adolescents. This data does not include other forms of losses that children and adolescents experience. Almost all bereaved children and Adolescents are attending schools without a major adult figure in their life.

All families are impacted when children and adolescents suffer a loss, therefore it is important that they receive the support needed to grow and develop into healthy adulthood. When they don’t get the tools to cope with this absence, their struggle follows them into adulthood.

Helpful Books on this topic:

The Loss That Lasts Forever: The Lifelong Impact of the Early Death of a Mother or Father

Motherless Daughters

Fatherless Women

This seminar explores grieving patterns and dynamic within these groups to help parents and caregivers provide compassionate and loving support.

Facilitated by : Daniel Hernandez, Clinical Thanatologist and Educator

Daniel has worked in mental health for the past 25 years and specializes in the field of thanatology (the study of death, dying and bereavement) and Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy. For the past 25 years he has worked at university settings as a mental health therapist and educator. He has a profound love for teaching and has taught graduate courses in counseling and human development, and mental health. Daniel has taught at San Jose State University, Syracuse University, Colgate University, Utica College and St. Lawrence University.

Daniel has provided support to individuals and families who have suffered a loss. He has facilitated support groups that have focused on: death of a child, survivors of suicide, and widows/widowers’ groups. Daniel continues to present topic seminars in the field of death, dying and bereavement. Daniel did his undergraduate and graduate work at San Jose State University. He has received training at the Center for Loss at Fort Collins, Colorado and is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling. He is a past Chair of the People of Color Committee that addressed end-of-life issues within a cultural context.