Kids & Teens

• Onsite: For kids ages 5-12, we offer our Kids Who Care group, which uses play and activity to help kids understand and express their emotions around their loss, develop positive coping skills, and maintain a connection to the loved one who died. There is a concurrent group for the child’s parent/guardian. This program is bilingual, so that families who speak Spanish can participate.
• Offsite: We partner with local school districts to provide services at the child’s school. School services are offered in English and Spanish. Learn more about our school grief support options. (link to schools FAQ)

Our Kids Who Care group meets at our Austin location at 2306 Hancock Dr, Austin TX 78756 on the 2^nd and 4^th Thursdays of the month from 6:30-8. Dinner is provided.

Our Teen group meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. 1st Thursday is online and 3rd Thursday in person at our Austin office.

This appointment offers you and your child the time and space to talk about your loss and how you are each coping with your grief. While families may share a common loss, often the individual family members are expressing their grief in very different ways. In the Pre-Group Appointment, you will have the opportunity to see our space so that when you come to your first group, you will feel more comfortable. It also allows The Christi Center team the opportunity to assess whether you and your child(ren) is/are ready to participate in a support group and prepares you for telling your loss story.

For our Kids Who Care program, we offer a concurrent group for the parents/caregivers of the child. This is a space to connect with other parents about your grief as well as the challenges of parenting a grieving child. Occasionally, some children are experiencing a loss that does not affect the caregiver as much. In those cases, we ask you to stay on our campus.

Kids are less likely to possess the vocabulary to verbally process their loss. That means they may “act out” their grief. Sometimes that looks like anger, sadness, withdrawal, or being the “clown.” Some kids will express that all in one day! Children’s grief tends to be experienced in shorter bursts. This may mean the child is sharing about her grief and then wants to play 5 minutes later. Children who experience a loss will re-grief loss at each new developmental age. For you as a family, it may mean that you have “moved on” from your most intense grief period before your child has. Grieving children also crave normalcy, which means they may be ready to return to regular routines like school before you are ready to return to work. For pre-teens and teens, their grief may make them feel isolated from their peers. The peer support model allows them to feel “like a regular kid.”

Our Kids Who Care group is facilitated by a clinical professional and assisted by trained volunteers including interns under the clinical supervision of a licensed clinical professional.

1. Complete our Grief Services Inquiry Form and one of our team members will call you within 1-2 business days. You may also call The Christi Center from 9 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday at (512) 467-2600 to speak directly with someone.
2. We will be able to answer your questions about our services and, if applicable, schedule a Pre-Group Appointment. We will also provide you some tips on speaking to your child about the group.

Grief support services at The Christi Center are provided free of charge, thanks to the support of donors and foundation partners.

Our Kids Who Care group divides the children into smaller groups based on ages and uses age-appropriate art, activities, and expressive play to help kids understand their emotions, connect with each other, memorialize their loved ones who died, and develop positive coping skills to use outside of group.