Author: Erin McMains

School mental health practitioners play a vital role in the lives of children with significant disabilities. They provide social, emotional, and behavioral support and programming to ensure a child feels valued, loved, accepted, and connected within the larger school environment. Just as importantly, practitioners can play a valuable role in supporting the parents of these children. Their careful and compassionate work can help promote trusting bonds and positive effective collaboration between home and school. Understanding the grief cycle, how it may reappear at different times during a child’s school experience, and how to compassionately respond to grief-related behaviors can greatly enhance the practitioners’ effectiveness in schools.