Talking to kids about anxiety, grief and death during COVID 19

This free online webinar will cover tools for how to talk to kids about death and grief, as well as help adults better acknowledge and process their own anxiety and fears. Sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and Christ Church. The event is free, registration is required (link sent after registration.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused anxiety, fear, and grief for adults and children alike. As children grieve the loss of what had been their "normal" while hearing news, seeing face masks, and sensing adult anxiety, many are full of questions and uncertainty about loss, death, and the future. Many may have lost an older relative, or have a friend who has. In a culture that lacks the coping skills and language for loss and adversity, COVID-19 is an opportunity to build resilience in children and to discern who we want our children to become after the pandemic has subsided.

Hosted by Christ Church Assistant Minister, the Rev. Dr. Susan Richardson, our featured speaker will be Christ Church member Joe Primo, the CEO of Good Grief and a leading voice on grief, mourning and building resilience in children, families and communities in the face of loss an adversity (Good-Grief.org). "The Elephant In the Room," a new documentary about Good Grief, just won documentary feature category at SXSW (canceled due to COVID, but the judging portion of the event took place).

About our presenter: An international speaker, author and commentator, Primo serves on the boards of Option B at the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation and Vennly, an audio-focused spiritual health app. Primo has served as a national spokesperson for the Funeral Service Foundation’s Youth & Funerals Initiative and is a past President of the National Alliance for Grieving Children. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Yale University, where he concentrated in end-of-life care and later served as a hospice chaplain at both The Connecticut Hospice and The Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut. Primo has appeared on CNN, FOX, ABC, NPR and in The Chicago Tribune, The New Jersey Star Ledger, The Times of London, and elsewhere.