Contents:
- Medical Video: How to speak about the loss of a child | Penny Kreitzer | TEDxOnBoard
- Why can fairy tales help?
- Storytelling is a way to express their feelings
- Children can control what happens in the story
- Storytelling can make it easier for your child to accept the truth
Medical Video: How to speak about the loss of a child | Penny Kreitzer | TEDxOnBoard
Sadness and loss are natural reactions when someone is close to you and your child dies. It's difficult for you as a parent to see your child emotionally ill. In fact, you can't get rid of the pain and sadness in your child, but you can help your child overcome loss through stories.
Why can fairy tales help?
Before writing was developed, fairy tales were a form of communication that could bring people closer and spread the news through other communities. Telling stories to others, can help in spreading culture, life lessons and education across ethnicities and races. Of course, our brains are also designed to like good stories.
When your child experiences sadness and loss, they often close out from pain. Your child may find it difficult to find the right words to express their feelings and may not know what they feel. Storytelling encourages them to open up and slowly find out their feelings to help find solutions to overcome these feelings.
Here are some reasons how stories can help your child overcome sadness and loss:
Storytelling is a way to express their feelings
Storytelling encourages your child to express feelings of anger, sadness, revenge, guilt, and shame.
By using symbolic language, using other people or animals to represent their feelings, worries, or fears, your child may find it easier to speak than if he directly mentions a deceased person or about himself.
For example, a child might not be able to talk about sadness after losing someone they love, but a child might be able to tell a story about an animal that was very sad when his mother died. In this way, children can talk about their sadness and sense of loss without feeling embarrassed.
Children can control what happens in the story
Your child can change what happens in the story and give them the opportunity to replace sad and gloomy feelings with something more positive that gives warmth and comfort. That way, they unconsciously heal their sadness and loss.
You can ask them to be more detailed in the situation and character in their story. This method is to help deal with their feelings, fears, and worries. For example, asking your child to provide further details in the story can make them explain how they feel about the situation, or suggest they think about a different ending. This helps your child draw different conclusions or perspectives from what they have felt.
Storytelling can make it easier for your child to accept the truth
Your child might think that telling about one of their loved ones might hurt. While in fact, stories can help reduce sad emotions that come with a sense of loss. In their minds storytelling is a useful way to enjoy and remember the happy memories they have with their loved ones while at the same time their minds work to acknowledge their loss and sadness.
Your child's story can start from feeling happy, funny and mild before continuing to a more serious story and concluding with a memory of death itself. This is a sign that your child's brain will gradually recognize reality and they are ready to control it effectively.
If your child shows signs of isolation or depression, sometimes the best way to start a conversation is through fairy tales. In addition to helping to relieve stress and foster good relationships from inside and outside the family, stories can help your child express their feelings and improve progress in the process of overcoming sadness and loss.
