A parent's death it is one of the most stressful and traumatic events in a child's life (Guldin et al., 2015; Worden, 1996, 2008). In particular, when bereavement is linked to a parent's suicide, children face unique challenges and are more vulnerable to potentially negative outcomes (Brent, Melhem, Donohoe, & Walker, 2009; Haine, Ayers, Sandler, & Wolchik, 2008; Pitman, Osborn, King, & Erlangsen, 2014; Young et al., 2012). Although many factors influence children's recovery following a parent's suicide, the surviving parent's emotional stability and emotional availability to support their children are of critical importance. Additionally, negative outcomes are often linked to unhealthy patterns of grief, such as avoidance and blame (Ratnarajah & Schofield, 2008), social isolation, closed communication (not talking about the suicide), and secrets kept within the family (Cerel, Jordan, & Duberstein, 2008). Furthermore, society's stigmatization of suicide impedes survivors' emotional healing (Mitchell et al., 2006). In recent years, researchers have consistently shown the success of bibliotherapy in helping increase children's and parents' understanding and communication about death. However, this efficacy has not been demonstrated specifically with grief related to suicide. No bibliotherapy-related research specifically addresses children's grief associated with a parent's suicide. Addressing this lack of research, a focus group study was conducted to obtain paraprofessional counselors' opinions about which type of story would be most effective in supporting this unique population of child survivors. We sought participants' (n=5) perceptions regarding which specific criteria should be considered when selecting child-appropriate reading materials (picture books) for bibliotherapy. We focused on the purpose of opening communication with young children (ages 4—8-years old) following their parent's suicide. The following summary and recommendations are based on participants' input. Following a parent's suicide, participants emphasized the critical need to individualize treatment to fit the unique needs of the child. Participants repeatedly stressed the need to know the child-the circumstances surrounding the suicide and the child's specific situation. They also recommended that counselors should strive to find books that fit the child's individual needs; books need to be forthright and honest in their portrayal of suicide; and stories need to show a way forward, provide hope, and assure the child that that they are not alone. Participants endorsed suicide-specific books, indicating that these books tended to be best for helping the child talk about the suicide and their grief. As a foundation for conversation with the child, participants noted the importance of children's books that helped identify and address specific emotions. Additionally, participants cautioned adults to avoid sharing stories that included ambiguous and unresolved issues, as children needed stories that offered closure and directly taught effective coping strategies. Future research is recommended to further explore the efficacy of children's picture books that were endorsed by this study's focus group. It is important to assess child survivors' and surviving parents' perceptions of these stories and the effectiveness of stories in opening communication about the deceased parent's suicide. Additionally, future research needs to investigate licensed counseling professionals' perceptions of children's picture books, specifically their perception of the story's capacity to open communication and provide adaptive grief support to child survivors. Additionally, longitudinal research should focus on the long term effectiveness of sharing carefully selected stories to facilitate healthy grieving patterns in child survivors.

The death of a parent by suicide is especially traumatic. Researchers estimate the number of children in the United States annually who experience their parent's suicide ranges from 7,000 to 30,000. These child survivors experience more complicated grief as compared to children bereaved by a parent's non-suicidal death. In particular, very young children have difficulty understanding that their parent completed suicide. Across time they struggle with confusion and intense emotions associated with their parent's suicide. Due to the stigma associated with suicide, feelings of guilt, and intense grief, surviving family members avoid talking about the suicide. Young children are often confused and suffer in silence with limited understanding about who the deceased parent was and why the parent completed suicide. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven adults, who as young children experienced the death of their father by suicide. All participants reported being five years old or younger at the time of the suicide. Participants explained how they found out about the suicide; how they developed an understanding of their deceased father across the years; and how they developed memories of their father, largely dependent on others' stories and reported details. At the conclusion of the interviews, participants were offered nine children's picture books. Participants self-selected books from these nine books and offered their impressions about how these books may or may not be helpful for young child survivors of parent suicide. Their reactions to the books are discussed in relationship to their personal stories and lived experiences. Their reactions have implications for how potential books must be carefully selected, making considerations in light of the child's unique experiences. Participants' responses highlighted the importance of attachment issues, the challenges of forming a connection to the deceased loved one with limited memories of their parent. Ultimately, survivors' perceptions and experiences are tied to the challenges of navigating Worden's (1996) tasks of grief. Implications for applied practice include considering how to use children's literature to open and encourage communication, allowing children to ask questions about the suicide; supporting young children in accepting the reality of their parent's death; facing the grief and pain with the support of loved ones; adapting to changes in their life's trajectory due to their father's suicide and adapting to altered family relationships; and building memories of the deceased loved one, and when possible, ensuring healthy attachment to the deceased parent.

Children who experience a parent's death by suicide are a vulnerable population at risk for emotional and mental health issues as well as suicide attempts (Cerel, Fristad, Weller, & Weller, 1999; Kuramoto et al., 2010; Wilcox et al., 2010). Yet, in spite of the knowledge that effective postvention is in reality prevention (Cerel et al. 2008), relatively little is known about these children and adolescents, particularly regarding their experiences following the suicide. The current research study investigated which resources, assistance, and actions of those around the child were perceived as most helpful and unhelpful following the parental suicide. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews using the hermeneutic approach, the researcher interviewed 17 adults who, as children or adolescents, were bereaved by parent suicide. Helpful experiences and support included assistance processing the suicide and an openness in the face of stigma. Unhelpful experiences included judgment and blame, silence regarding the suicide and deceased parent, and a heightened awareness of the surviving parent's challenges. Individuals who were perceived as helpful generally had pre-existing relationships with the children and helped meet their practical and emotional needs. It is recommended that customized and varied support be offered, along with the message that it is important to talk about suicide and memorialize the deceased parent. Additional research is needed to further explore the complex experiences of children of parent suicide; this will aid in the development of evidence-based interventions to better support them.

Child survivors of the Holocaust have only recently been recognized as a distinguishable group of individuals who survived the war with a different experience to the older survivors. This thesis focuses on a specific group of child survivors, those who survived by going into hiding. In hiding, some remained "visible" by hiding within convents, orphanages or with Christian families. Others were physically hidden and had to disappear from sight. Most children often combined these two experiences in their hiding. / The intent of this study was to explore the experience of these hidden children using Giorgi’s empirical phenomenological methodology and to gain a richer understanding of the nature of this experience. Phenomenological analyses of the recorded and transcribed interviews of 11 child survivors were conducted and organized into meaning units which subsequently yielded situated structures from which the general structures evolved. / These analyses revealed that the defining moment of being hidden for these children was the suppression of their identities as Jews. By being hidden, they had to deny the essence of their core selves, including their names, family details and connections to others in an effort to conceal their Jewishness. Other structures to emerge as part of hiding were the pervading fear which enveloped their entire experience in hiding and the sense of suspended normality during this period, which sometimes extended over a period of years. A "cut-offness" and personality constriction seemed to be present throughout the descriptions of these children and appears to have developed as a method of coping with the trauma of their childhood. Overlaying all of this were general insecurities about the capriciousness of the war and the contextual specifics of their actual hiding places to which each child had to adjust. Connections/relationships to another person seemed to be highly significant in the dynamics of the everyday during the experience of hiding and often shaped some of the psychological and emotional experiences of hiddenness.

This qualitative case study describes the disparate experiences of how three siblings reacted and were affected by their father's suicide death. Specifically, through individual interviews, this study explores the siblings' individual memories, emotions, and perceptions of support connected with the time directly before and after their father's death. In addition, the researchers considered the long-term effects of their father's death by suicide as lived by the sibling survivors. In seeking to understand the siblings' experiences, this study also explores each sibling's reaction as they were presented with a group of children's picture books that were developed to help children express their emotions and are used by therapists who counsel with children bereaved by suicide. Findings suggested that, although the siblings shared the trauma of the father's suicide, each had different perceptions and experiences surrounding that trauma; they also reacted differently to the books presented to them. Implications for practice for teachers, parents, and school-based mental health practitioners (e.g., school psychologist and school counselors) are provided. These implications include the importance of knowing the specifics of each child's perceptions and providing supportive interventions that match the individual child's needs. Also, when selecting therapeutic books to share with a grieving child, consider presenting options and allowing the child to select a book. Also, be aware that a book that is preferred by one child, may not be preferred by another. Additionally, certain pictures included in children's books may trigger memories of the parent's suicide that could potentially further traumatize the child.