Litsa Williams from What's Your Grief

“Don’t be scared to show your feelings in front of your kids. I just got an email from somebody saying, am I hurting my kid by crying in front of them? And I think that fear is real for people. And so the thing I would always remind them, from professionals in the field, and from children who’ve lost parents, who will often say, being able to see that my parent was sad is what gave me permission to feel like I could share that I was sad. And that it was OK. And it modeled that behavior for me, and let me know that I could talk to them about my feelings.”

— Litsa Williams

I had such a great discussion with Litsa Williams for this episode. Litsa is the co-founder of the popular grief blog and website What’s Your Grief, and I had the pleasure of meeting her this summer at the National Alliance for Grieving Children symposium. What’s Your grief has so many articles on every different topic related to grief and loss, and they also have a number of really innovative projects going on that might be interesting to think about trying with your kids or teens.

Some topics that Litsa and I cover include:

• Resources available on the What’s Your Grief blog and web site;

• Recommendations for books and movies to read and watch with your kids;

• The Grief Secret project;

• The Grief in Six Words project;

• The Photo Grief project, and the online grief photography class they offer;

• The What’s Your Grief podcast; and

• Litsa’s advice and perspective as both a grief professional and as someone who lost her own dad when she was just 18.

I hope you enjoy my discussion with Litsa Williams.

Links & resources for this episode

• What’s Your Grief web site, blog, & webinars

• What’s Your Grief on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, & YouTube

• 64 Children’s Books About Death and Grief

• Grief activity books for kids ages 3-9

• 6 books for grieving teenagers

• More about “Grief Secrets”

• Six word stories for Children’s Grief Awareness Day

• Exploring Grief Through Photography online class

• Am I Like My Daddy? by Marcy Blesy

• Art with Heart’s Chill and Spill Journal

• Send Grief Secrets to: What’s Your Grief - 3600 Roland Ave Baltimore MD 21211

More links for listeners

• Download: Kids & Grief: What You Need to Know

• Article: I’m a Widowed Mom: Here Are My 3 Tips for COVID-19 Widows

• Book: Widowed Parents Unite: 52 Tips to Get Through the First Year, from One Widowed Parent to Another

Thank you sponsors & partners:

Help Texts - Grief support text messaging service. Tips and support delivered all year long, personalized based on your loss. Listeners get $10 off: https://helptexts.com/jennylisk

BetterHelp - Talk with a licensed, professional therapist online. Get 10% off your first month: betterhelp.com/widowedparent

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