Multidimensional Grief Therapy : A Flexible Approach to Assessing and Supporting Bereaved Youth

Multidimensional Grief Therapy (MGT) provides counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists (as well as students in these fields) with a flexible program for assessing and supporting children and adolescents who have experienced bereavement. MGT is a strength-based intervention, designed to reduce unhelpful grief reactions that prevent adjustment, and promote adaptive grief reactions that enable children to cope better after a death. It also reduces associated symptoms of psychological distress and helps bereaved children and adolescents lead healthy, happy, productive lives. As young people grieve in different ways and “one-size-fits-all” treatments often lack effectiveness, MGT uses an assessment-driven, two-phased approach to effectively address the unique mental health needs of diverse youth. This manual provides a wealth of activities and handouts designed specifically to engage and empower youth after experiencing a death, including under traumatic circumstances.

Julie B. Kaplow is Professor of Psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, and Executive Vice President of Trauma and Grief Programs and Policy at Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Texas. She is also Executive Director of the Trauma and Grief Centers at The Hackett Center for Mental Health in Houston, Texas and the Children's Hospital New Orleans, Louisiana.

Christopher M. Layne is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Child and Adolescent Traumatic Stress Program (CATSP) Specialty Clinic at Nova Southeastern University. He is also a Research Psychologist at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience and directs the National Child Trauma Workforce Institute.

Robert S. Pynoos is a Distinguished Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioural Sciences at David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, and is Co-Director of the UCLA/Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, coordinating the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

William Saltzman is Professor and Director of the Counseling Psychology Program and Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling at California State University, Long Beach.