Resources for teens who are grieving
1. General grief resources for teens
1. The Dougy Center
Its dedicated teen section (ages 13–18) includes videos, podcasts, practical advice, and information about different kinds of death. It also helps families locate peer-support programs.
Resources for teens themselves, parents, and caregivers.
2. National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG)
A national organization dedicated to supporting grieving children and adolescents. Provides educational materials, resources for families and professionals, and a directory for locating grief-support programs.
Resources for finding local support groups and reliable educational materials.
3. What's Your Grief?
An accessible, thoughtful website exploring grief through articles, podcasts, and creative activities. It addresses the many ways grief affects daily life and recognizes that there is no single right way to grieve. Not exclusively for teens, but many articles are relevant to older adolescents.
Good resource for teens who prefer reading, reflection, and self-guided exploration.
4. The Children's Room
Offers dedicated teen grief programs, peer support, and activities. Its online resource page also links to other helpful teen grief organizations and materials. Its direct support programs focus on children and teens who have lost a parent or sibling, including virtual options.
This is a good resource for teens who have lost a parent or sibling and families seeking peer support.
5. Hospice of the Valley – Teen Grief Resources
An especially useful collection of downloadable resources written specifically for teenagers. Topics include how grief affects the mind and body, sudden versus expected death, secondary losses, holidays, and losing a sibling or friend.
This resource also includes excellent sibling-loss material
Explore and download teen grief materials
6. Eluna Network
Offers resources and programs for children and families experiencing grief and loss impacted by addiction. It offers camps and opportunities for young people to connect with others who understand what it means to lose someone important.
This is a good resource for peer connection, family resources, and grief camps.
Visit Eluna Network
Books: Wolfelt, Alan D. Helping Your Grieving Heart for Teens. 100 Practical Ideas
Book by the Dougy Center: Helping Teens Cope with Death. To order a copy of the book, visit the online bookstore or contact Dougy Center, 503-775-5683.
2. Grief support groups, camps, and opportunities to connect
Sometimes the most helpful thing for a teenager is simply meeting someone else who understands. Peer support can reduce the feeling of being different or alone.
Experience Camps
A nonprofit offering free summer camps for children and teens who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver. Camps combine traditional summer activities with grief-informed support and opportunities to build friendships.
This is a good resource for children and teens who would benefit from shared experiences and supportive friendships.
The Compassionate Friends
A national organization supporting families after the death of a child, sibling, or grandchild. Although much of its work is directed toward parents, it also has resources for bereaved siblings, including a dedicated sibling camp.
This is a good resource for families and siblings looking for a community that understands sibling loss.
Comfort Zone Camp
Provides free bereavement camps for children and young adults. Its programs use activities, peer connection, and trained volunteers to create a supportive environment for young people who have experienced loss.
This is a good resource for young people who would enjoy a camp environment and meeting other grieving peers.
National Alliance for Children's Grief – Find Local Support
In addition to its educational materials, NACG can help families find bereavement centers, support groups, and other programs in their communities.
Search for grief support near you
Special resources for teens grieving a brother or sister
Losing a sibling is a distinctive kind of grief, and it can be overlooked even within families that are grieving together.
A teenager may lose not only a beloved brother or sister but also a companion, confidant, playmate, rival, protector, or the person who shared the history of growing up in the same family.
There can also be complicated feelings: guilt about surviving, jealousy of the attention given to the deceased sibling, resentment about changes in family life, fear of losing another family member, or the sense that their own grief has become invisible because their parents are suffering.
These resources are particularly relevant.
1. Hospice of the Valley – Losing a Brother, Sister or Friend
This resources specifically addresses sibling and friend loss, alongside the broader effects of grief on adolescents.
It is particularly useful because it speaks directly to teens rather than only telling adults how to support them.
Access the sibling-loss material
Helping Teens Cope with Death | Grief Guide Book – Dougy Center Bookstore
2. The Dougy Center – Supporting Grieving Siblings
A helpful resource for parents, caregivers, and other adults who are supporting a child or teenager after the death of a brother or sister.
It addresses the importance of recognizing surviving siblings' individual grief rather than assuming they are coping because they are not expressing it.
COPE Foundation
COPE provides grief support for children, teens, and young adults after the death of a loved one. Its teen and young-adult programs include support for those who have lost a sibling. It also offers the HERO Project, a peer-support initiative for middle- and high-school students who have experienced a death.
This is a resource addressing support and connection with other bereaved teens.
Explore teen and young-adult groups
SUDC Foundation – Resources for Siblings
Particularly relevant to families who have lost a child to sudden unexplained death in childhood. Its sibling resource page gathers links to grief organizations and support resources for children and young people.
Teen-created resources and books
These resources are written by teens for teens. Teens often respond better to hearing from other young people who have experienced loss.
Grief Sucks
A teen-created resource intended to open up conversations about grief. It includes candid perspectives and stories from young people. This may be particularly appealing to teenagers who feel that adults don't quite understand their experience.
Books and journals for grieving teenagers
Healing Your Grieving Heart for Teens – Alan D. Wolfelt
Short, practical suggestions for navigating grief. Offers ideas that teenagers can try at their own pace.
Fire in my Heart, Ice in my Veins | Centering Resources
Fire in My Heart, Ice in My Veins – Enid Samuel Traisman
A journal for teenagers experiencing loss. Offers prompts and activities to help young people express feelings that may be difficult to put into words.
After by Francis Chalifour: 9780887767050 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
After – Francis Chalifour
A young adult novel exploring grief and its effects on a young person's life. Fiction can sometimes help teenagers recognize their own feelings through someone else's story.
The Dougy Center also offers Reconstruction, a grief journal specifically designed for teenagers.
Reconstruction-A Grief Journal
5. Resources for parents and adults supporting grieving teens
- Coalition to Support Grieving Students – Guidance for educators and other adults who work with grieving students. Particularly useful for helping schools respond to grief. Visit the Coalition.
- Hospice Foundation of America – Explains how children and teens experience bereavement and discusses the value of peer support, grief groups, and camps. Supporting Children and Teens.
- The Children's Room – Offers educational resources for families, caregivers, and professionals, including a dedicated teen resource collection. Family and caregiver resources.
- For Teachers and School Counselors
Anna Harris: https://schoolcounselingmasters.org/school-based-grief-support/