Support for Teens

“Before I felt alone, my friends didn’t talk to me about my Dad. I know I’m not the only one now, and I’ve made friends at the TiG (Teens in Grief) group” Emily, aged 13, whose Dad died.

Teenage years are great, but they can be difficult too.  You go through so many changes – physical changes, emotional ups and downs, exams, friendships – and all these things can make life feel out of control and overwhelming at times.  When you experience the death of someone close to you it can feel particularly hard to deal with with many conflicting thoughts and feelings.

Families in Grief helps teenagers to understand and cope with their grief in the following ways:

Support for young people at secondary school (Age 11-16)

We offer support for this age group through our ‘Teens in Grief’ group – a support group which runs over six weekly sessions usually in either Barnstaple or Bideford. The sessions take place after school and last for an hour and a half. The sessions use a combination of arts and craft activities as well as physical activities such as surfing to help young people to explore their bereavement. For this age group, peer to peer support is so helpful and many make lifelong friends. The parents/carers of the young people have their own support group in a room nearby.

If you are a bereaved young person looking for support please read on.

If you are the parent of a young person you may find find our free downloadable Guide for Parents and Carers to be helpful.

Support for teenagers at sixth form (Age 16 and 17)

We provide drop-in sessions for this age group, as we have found over the years that older teens tend to prefer a more casual approach to receiving support.

Currently we offer drop-in sessions at Petroc college, Barnstaple.

If an older teen needs further support, we will offer two home visits to talk through strategies and resources with both them and their parent/carer.