Grief & Loss Therapy for Children in NYC

Children do not experience grief the way adults do, and therapy that doesn't account for that fundamental difference can leave a child feeling confused, pressured, or unheard. At Everyday Parenting, our clinicians are trained to tailor every aspect of the therapeutic experience to your child's age, cognitive development, and emotional readiness. A younger child might process the death of a grandparent through imaginative play, using dolls or figurines to act out scenarios they can't yet articulate verbally. An older child might benefit from drawing, storytelling, or structured conversations that help them organize overwhelming feelings into something they can begin to understand.

This isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Our team draws on child-centered play therapy, psychodynamic techniques, and cognitive behavioral strategies to find the method that resonates most deeply with your child. We pay close attention to the cues children give us, the stories they tell, the games they choose, the questions they ask or avoid, because those cues are the language of childhood grief. For families in New York City and Westchester, where children are often navigating high-demand academic and social environments alongside their grief, having a therapist who truly understands how to work within a child's world makes a profound difference.

The result is therapy that feels natural and safe for your child rather than intimidating or confusing. When children feel met at their level, they open up. They begin to express what they've been carrying. And they start to build the emotional tools that will serve them not only through this loss but through every challenge they face as they grow.

Loss can be traumatic for children, especially when the circumstances surrounding the loss are sudden, violent, or accompanied by significant family upheaval. Even losses that adults might consider "expected", such as the death of an elderly grandparent, can feel shocking and destabilizing to a child who is encountering death for the first time. At Everyday Parenting, our grief work is grounded in trauma-informed care, which means that every clinical decision is made with your child's emotional safety as the highest priority.

Trauma-informed therapy recognizes that a grieving child's nervous system may be in a heightened state of alert. They may be hypervigilant, easily startled, or emotionally shut down. Our clinicians are trained to recognize these signs and to create a therapeutic environment that helps regulate the child's nervous system before asking them to engage with painful material. We never push a child to talk about their loss before they are ready. Instead, we build trust gradually, using therapeutic techniques that allow the child to approach their grief at a pace that feels manageable.

Julie Milstein, LMSW, brings specialized training in trauma-related disorders, PTSD, and child-centered play therapy, with experience helping children process acute trauma at clinical settings including the Family Assessment Clinic. Her integrative approach combines trauma-informed care with psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral techniques, ensuring that children's feelings are understood and their strengths supported. For New York City families navigating loss in the context of additional stressors, whether a complicated family dynamic, a school transition, or the fast pace of urban life, this level of clinical expertise provides essential protection for your child's emotional wellbeing.

One of the most difficult aspects of a child's grief is the helplessness parents feel. You want to say the right thing, create the right environment, and protect your child from pain, but grief doesn't work that way. Many parents find themselves unsure whether to talk openly about the person who died, worried about saying something that makes things worse, or struggling with their own grief while trying to hold space for their child's. At Everyday Parenting, we believe that supporting the parent is inseparable from supporting the child.

Our clinicians work closely with caregivers throughout the therapeutic process, guiding how to talk about death and loss in age-appropriate ways, how to respond when your child asks difficult questions, and how to create a home environment where grief is neither avoided nor overwhelming. This isn't about giving you a script; it's about helping you understand your child's unique grieving process and building your confidence as the most important source of comfort in their life.

For families in New York City and Westchester, where the demands of daily life can make it difficult to slow down and create space for grief, this caregiver component is especially valuable. We help you identify moments in your routine where connection can happen naturally, and we give you practical tools for navigating situations that feel daunting, like how to handle a birthday or holiday after a loss, or how to talk to your child's school about what they're going through. The goal is not just a child who is healing, but a family that feels more connected and capable of supporting one another through one of life's hardest experiences.

Grief in childhood is not limited to the death of a person. Children can experience profound loss from the death of a pet, the divorce or separation of parents, a family move, the loss of a friendship, or the departure of a caregiver who has been central to their daily life. These losses are real, and they deserve the same quality of clinical attention as any other. At Everyday Parenting, we take every loss your child experiences seriously, because to a child, the emotional weight of these experiences is not measured by adult standards of significance.

Our clinicians understand that the loss of a family dog can feel, to a six-year-old, as devastating as any other kind of death. They understand that a child whose parents are divorcing may grieve the loss of their family as they knew it with an intensity that rivals bereavement. And they understand that children who have experienced multiple losses, even losses that seem minor from the outside, may carry a cumulative burden of grief that affects their behavior, their relationships, and their sense of security in the world.

By providing a therapeutic space that validates every kind of loss, we help children learn that their feelings matter and that they don't need to rank or minimize their pain. For families across New York City and Westchester County, this inclusive approach to grief means that no matter what your child is going through, there is a place where they will be heard, understood, and supported in making sense of their experience.

When your child is hurting, you need to know that the help you're seeking is more than well-intentioned; it needs to be effective. At Everyday Parenting, our grief therapy for children is built on evidence-based modalities that have been shown to support healthy emotional processing in young people. Our clinicians draw from child-centered play therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive behavioral techniques, selecting and blending approaches based on what your child's specific situation requires.

This isn't a generic approach applied uniformly. Each child's grief is shaped by their developmental stage, their temperament, the nature of the loss, and the broader context of their family life. Our assessment process identifies these factors with care, and our treatment plans are designed to address the whole picture, not just the loss itself, but how it is showing up in your child's emotional life, behavior, and relationships. We hold ourselves to the highest clinical standards because we believe families navigating grief deserve nothing less.

Everyday Parenting was founded by two psychologists, Dr. Layne Raskin and Dr. Jeanette Sawyer Cohen, and has grown to a team of 12 experienced clinicians who are leaders in their respective fields. Our team serves intellectually curious families who expect exceptional care, and we deliver thoughtful, research-backed solutions that meet even the most discerning standards. For parents in New York City and Westchester who want assurance that their child's therapy is grounded in the best available science, our clinical rigor provides that confidence.

Grief doesn't wait for a convenient time, and finding the right therapist for your child shouldn't be an added source of stress. Everyday Parenting offers in-person sessions at two locations, our Midtown Manhattan office on West 58th Street and our Westchester office in Hartsdale, as well as online therapy for families in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Florida. This flexibility ensures that your child can access consistent, high-quality grief support regardless of your family's schedule or location.

For families in New York City, the ability to choose between in-person and virtual sessions means that therapy can continue uninterrupted through the inevitable disruptions of urban family life, school closures, travel, schedule conflicts, or simply the difficulty of getting across town during rush hour. For Westchester families, our Hartsdale location offers a convenient, accessible option that doesn't require a trip into the city. And for families who have relocated or who have one parent living out of state, our online therapy options ensure continuity of care during a time when consistency matters most.

We understand that when your child is grieving, the last thing you need is logistical complexity. Our team works with you to find the right format and schedule, making it as easy as possible for your family to begin and sustain the therapeutic process. Because the sooner your child has a safe space to grieve, the sooner healing can begin.