How can I help my son get over a loss in the family?

Anyone know of anything I could do to help cope with the loss of a family member my son is going through a lot ever since his uncle passed away. All he wants to do is cry himself to sleep and be sad all day he does go to school, but he wakes up sad and crying, what else can I do to help him cope with the loss of his uncle? He’s on a waiting list for his psychiatrist but nothing has come up yet and I can’t wait longer. I’m already waiting for a while since March for his appointment but there’s no appointments available or openings, so he’s on a waiting list

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:heart::heart::heart::heart::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3::pray:t3:

He doesn’t have closure that’s a very difficult one. :confused:

School will help find a place!

Schools offer support, your pediatrician can also refer you to a counselor.
They have support groups too.
It’s hard to let go of people.
Sometimes you never get over it

Call around get him on more lists. The more availability you have to schedule sessions the easier it will be to get him in. If you can pay cash sometimes that gets you in faster. If there are interns available that can be faster also.

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We all grieve in our own way and our own time. Cry with him,pray for him and just let him know he’s not alone.

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Send him to the school counselor. Let them know.

Talk to the school, when my kids step father passed away the school has therapists go in, both boys see there therapist once a week. I also has a problem getting a therapist on my own and my youngest son was saying he wanted to go to heaven to see daddy, he was 7 at the time and didn’t understand what it truly meant. The school might be able to help

You don’t ever “get over” the loss of a loved one. Grief is different for everybody and he needs to be able to express his emotions. This takes time, months even. Also, he doesn’t need a psychiatrist and medication. He needs a therapist or a grief counselor

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Get him some grief counceling kids need it.

:cry: Many schools have grief counselors that help with this. Most times with young children, writing, drawing pictures and therapy play is how they’ll best express their feelings as they may lack the right words to verbally do so. Talk with him about how you are feeling, encourage him to do so, answer his questions about death with age appropriate answers. Give pictures and keepsakes of the loved one to him. Sorry for you and your son loss.

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Definitely check with the school, ours has a social worker who can help with things like this. What about a photo blanket, if you have access to uncles t shirts a memory pillow or blanket made of those, they have those pillows you can have made from photos. My son lost his grandpa right before Covid at almost five years old. He was really confused about death. We talked to him a lot about life and death, and heaven (if that’s something you believe in) if you are part of a church or have a local church a youth pastor may be able to help with counseling as well.

Kids need grief counseling, it’s hard enough for an adult to understand loss, for kids it’s even worse. I strongly suggest looking in your area for a good pediatric grief counselor.
I realize you said that you’re waiting for a psychiatrist, but there are specific counselors out there for grief, some are even able to do tele-health.
In the meantime, if he’s enrolled in public school, I would reach out to his counselor they may have suggestions and also be able to talk with him.

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Just a suggestion: try locating someone who has a child that’s gone through this and plan play dates and trips together. That’s what we did when my 2 grandsons (6 and 1) lost their dad in 2020 due to a car accident. Depending on your situation, sometimes police and fire can help, they did for us, as their father was a firefighter in Easton, Ks. Just know there are going to be up (good) and down (bad) days even with help.

The school counselor should be able to talk to him. Your church might have some resources.

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Does he have a counselor at his school that he could talk to?

When we lost my Dad we talked about him often, remembered the good times, gave my son on of his grandpa’s hoodies to sleep with and allowed him the time to grieve how ever he needed. You can also contact the schools counselor and definitely keep pushing the private counseling service updating them how serious the situation is.

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Is there a help line he can maybe call to talk to someone ?

Some funeral homes actually offer grief counseling. Also schools should have school counselors in their buildings so call the school and ask them or go to local district school website and see a list of staff members and see if one is a counselor in his school building and if so maybe you can email them and go from there. Give him something of his uncles that’s special and tell him it’s his job now to take care of it. Also you need to try and talk to him. If he isn’t willing to talk get some new toys and do play therapy with him or get some crayons markers etc and white paper and ask him to draw his feelings out and explain to him that you guys will talk about it afterwards.

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You may be able to find an online psychologist to get him the help he needs.

Check with your school. Usually a therapist from your commmunity mental health agency contracts with the schools. He may not need a psychiatrist. He may needs therapy to help him process his feelings.

He doesn’t need a psychiatrist he need a therapist you can get him an appointment in a day. Search for License counselor they’ll all come up. I say allow him to grieve by talking about it with him. Bring up good times and maybe have him write down a list of things to do his uncle would be proud of. People can grieve for a while

Age can be important to know what is appropriate to tell them. And not just any therapist you need a grief therapist so of theyre not on a list for a grief therapist, remove them. Also call them often. Sometimes they can move you up. Its not the best but if in school even prek has counslers. If really young my experience is thry will not do therapy by facetime because it doesnt work. Younger ones need play therapy setting and to gain teuat needs to be in person. In the meantime books can be helpful. A book before bed. Memory collage. Being able to remember the happy times though it makes them sad those they will have forever and theyre loved one will always be in their heart. 25 Children's Books That Explain Death And Grief To Kids | HuffPost Life

Talk to his school see what they can help with.
But honestly the only thing you can do is be there, let him know you know how he feels and he isn’t going threw it alone.