Helping Hurting Children: A Journey of Healing
Adult’s Reference Guide
by
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While there can be no concrete or cookie-cut answers in dealing with losses, children need guidelines to help them cope with the hurt associated with it. “Helping Hurting Children: A Journey of Healing” is a workbook for children written specifically for that purpose. It is designed to lay a solid biblical foundation in the early years of a child’s life to help him meet with losses that occur on a daily basis. It also serves as a hands-on tool that parents, grandparents, children’s ministers, school officials, lay counselors, or any caring adult can use in implementing the fundamental principles needed in helping a child find healing from the emotional scars of losses.
This accompanying “Adult’s Reference Guide” is written with the intent to enlighten you, the caring adult traveling with him, to a child’s emotional state of mind during a time of loss in his life. Prayerfully, it will keep you from being “caught completely unaware,” as you help him process his grief and answer the questions he might have.
Let me introduce you to the Reference Guide.
Chapter 1: Supporting a Grieving Child
Often what adults label as “bad behavior” in children is a cry for help after experiencing a loss. This chapter offers basic tips in recognizing the signs of grief in children.
Chapter 2: Understanding Emotions
Emotions are the bulk of the grieving process. Your understanding of the emotions a child exhibits can pave the way for him to be able to express his emotions in a healthy way in the midst of losses in everyday life.
Chapter 3: Recognizing Perception
Children perceive and view things that happen to them in their childhood with childlike wisdom, childlike knowledge, and childlike understanding. Because of this, a child often perceives a loss entirely wrong, thus causing him more pain. This chapter is to help adults guard against wrong perceptions during and after a loss has occurred.
Chapter 4: Building Self-Esteem
During a loss, a child’s self-esteem may begin to spiral downward. Our mission as caring adults is to help build self-esteem in children based on how much God loves and values him in order to become all that God created him to be. Bubby the Rabbit will assist you in this endeavor by giving the children tips, scriptures, and questions to answer in the activities section of each chapter.
Chapter 5: Answering Questions about Specific Losses
When a child experiences a loss or knows of someone who has, questions arise out of his struggle to understand the concept of what is happening. This chapter lists questions children might ask concerning: Death, Bullying, Moving, Loss of a Pet, and Divorce. Answers have been provided for you to use as a guide to meet the child’s curiosity.
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About the Book
Losses are a normal part of life, even in the lives of children. To help children learn how to cope with those losses, travel with Martha and Bubby the Rabbit as they take children on a journey of healing. They make stops at:
• What Does Loss Mean
• Facts About Losses
• What Does Grieve Mean
• Recognizing Feelings
• Expressing Feelings
• Forgiving Others
• Asking Others to Forgive You
• Accepting Losses
Martha and Bubby are joined by their friends, Zach, Hadley, Hannah, Crystal, and Heather. The gang shares their stories of the death of a loved one, being bullied, making a move, the loss of a pet, and divorce.
Martha, Bubby, and the kids traveling with them want to remind other boys and girls that you can continue to be happy after a loss.
“I am pleased to recommend this resource as an easy-to-use guide for those parents, grandparents, children’s church leaders, or others who desire to help, but who may have felt powerless or unsure as to how to do so.”
—Virginia G. Johnson, licensed professional counselor
About the Author
Martha Bush grew up on a farm in Donalsonville, Georgia. She graduated from Valdosta State College, Valdosta, Georgia, with a BS degree in Business Education. After graduating from college, Martha began her teaching career that spanned grades 5-12 in both public and Christian schools. She also taught adult vocational courses in the Atlanta school system.
Her love for teaching led her into areas outside the school system as she began teaching Bible study courses in jails, prisons, and at her local church. She also writes a monthly inspirational post at www.createdwoman.net and is a contributing editor for Created Woman Magazine.
In addition, she is a contributor at www.girlfriendscoffeehour.com and a member of The Orange County Christian Writers Guild.
Through her years of teaching, as well as being an avid reader of human behavior and grief counseling from noted Christian psychologists, she recognized how a team effort can help build a foundation in children at an early age that will enable them to cope with the losses in their lives. She believes this team, made of up parents, grandparents, educators, and spiritual leaders, can guide a child to healing from losses he or she might experience. They can do this simply by recognizing his pain, listening to his pain, and then teaching the child how to apply the principles of God’s Word to his hurting heart. This led her to write Helping Hurting Children: A Journey of Healing.
Martha resides in Orange, Texas, with her husband, Glen. They are the parents of two grown daughters who have blessed them with three beautiful grandchildren.