This was an informative training that was well set out and conducted, inclusive and great to be be with other professionals working in the same field.
Traumatic Bereavement: Working Therapeutically with Children and Young People
This training is designed to help bereaved children and young people cope with their trauma.
About this training
This evidence-based course has been developed by experts from the UK Trauma Council and is delivered by the Clinical Lead of the Traumatic Bereavement resource portfolio.
How a child or young person experiences or understands death - how they perceive its meaning - can shape whether the loss is experienced as traumatic. Traumatic bereavement can can disrupt the typical grieving process, making it difficult for the child or young person to process their loss. Their difficulties may be misunderstood or go unrecognised, even by experienced practitioners, leading to severe and long-lasting challenges. It is vital that these children are identified and given appropriate help and support.
Sudden and unexpected deaths - whether due to serious illness, accidents, suicide, or violence - can increase the likelihood of traumatic bereavement. Children may struggle with distressing memories, unanswered questions, or feelings of guilt and responsibility. Disruptions to family and community support systems can exacerbate their sense of isolation and confusion.
The training introduces traumatic bereavement and provides practical, formulation-driven approaches to identification, measurement, and support. It explores how these approaches can be applied in therapeutic settings. The number of delegates is intentionally limited to allow for in-depth discussion and to tailor content to the needs of the group.
If you have any questions about the training or would like further information, feel free to contact the UK Trauma Council.
Aims of this training
This course aims to equip practitioners and clinicians to identify traumatic bereavement and provide formulation-driven therapeutic support.
By the end of the course, delegates will be able to:
Understand what traumatic bereavement is and how to identify children and young people at risk.
Develop a formulation to understand the specific needs of an individual child or young person experiencing traumatic bereavement.
Select and administer appropriate measures to identify traumatic bereavement and monitor presenting difficulties.
Choose and adapt therapeutic activities to meet the individual needs of children and young people.
Recognise when difficulties are severe or complex enough to require specialist help and onward referral.
Who should attend?
This training is designed for practitioners and clinicians working therapeutically with bereaved children and young people in a variety of settings. Please see Section 1.2 (pages 6-7) of the Traumatic Bereavement Clinical Guide for a list of suggested competencies for attendees.
All delegates should be already receiving supervision as part of their professional practice.
Course tutor
Beck Ferrari
Course tutor
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I really enjoyed the format of this course - lots of practical tips to help me feel more confident when dealing with traumatic bereavement.
Participant, 2025 -
Great pace of training - very engaging, clear and informative.
Participant, 2025 -
It was amazing! So full of learning and ideas and just to have the chance to reflect. Beck was so brilliant and I got so much from it.
Participant, 2024 -
I now have a clearer understanding of what traumatic bereavement is and am better able to identify when CYP need further intervention on bereavement work.
Participant, 2024 -
I now know how to assess children I work with who may be experiencing traumatic bereavement and what kinds of activities to try with them. I particularly liked how the last hour of the training tied this all together.
Participant, 2024
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The training consists of two half-day sessions, delivered online via Zoom, with joining links sent to participants in advance. This course typically runs three times a year – in Autumn, Spring, and Summer.
Day 1: Identifying traumatic bereavement
What is traumatic bereavement? - how it differs from more typical grief and how it can be recognised.
Meaning making – exploring what this death means for this child or young person and how this meaning might disrupt their grief.
Formulation - using formulation collaboratively to help make sense of a young person’s difficulties.
Using measures - selecting and using measures to help understand a child or young people’s needs.
Day 2: Supporting a child or young person experiencing traumatic bereavement
Relaxing the body and mind activities – facilitating a relaxed and safe space to support the therapeutic process.
Choosing an activity - using formulation to help select appropriate activities.
Adapting support activities – how to adapt activities to be responsive to an individual child or young person’s needs, background and culture.
Referrals - when to consider referring on to specialist trauma support and collaborative working with other services.
Endings and rituals – how to plan with the child or young person for the end of support.
Between day 1 and day 2 delegates will be invited to complete a task relating to their work with a particular child or young person to bring back for discussion in day two.
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This evidence-based course has been developed by experts from the UK Trauma Council (UKTC), drawing on the latest research and their own experience of working with traumatically bereaved children in bereavement services and education settings.
The UKTC is a group of leading experts, drawn from a variety of disciplines across all four nations of the United Kingdom (UK). It is the first UK-wide platform bringing together expertise in research, practice, policy and lived experience in the field of childhood trauma. The UKTC is hosted and supported by Anna Freud.
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Beck Ferrari
Beck has her own independent bereavement service working therapeutically with children and young people, and supporting education settings, and is the Clinical Co-Lead for the UKTC’s recent work on traumatic bereavement. Beck’s early career was as a teacher and SENCO. She completed her MSc in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy at Anna Freud and UCL, specialising in Trauma-Focused CBT.
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The online platform Zoom will be used to deliver this training. Prior to booking on, please ensure you meet the system requirements so you're able to join this training.
Before the training, please test your equipment is working by going to Zoom.us/test and follow the instructions.
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Upon booking, you will be asked to confirm that you have read and accept our terms and conditions and our privacy notice. Please read these documents before booking:
UK Trauma Council Newsletter
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