How To Continue Parenting Following the Loss of a Child

Thrive • October 15, 2021

By Thrive Reno’s Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program Clinical Lead and Therapist Amanda Boe, LMFT

After losing a child, it can be difficult to comprehend how to continue parenting your other child or children through your grief. You may face a rollercoaster of confusing emotions as you accept that your life will never be the same. As you process your grief, you may face some of the common parenting challenges listed below. So, in this blog you’ll find therapeutic advice for coping with each of these challenges. Through it all, you may never feel like life gets easier, but in time you can feel like you’re getting stronger.

Parenting Challenge Number One: Choosing How To Show Emotions in Front of Your Child or Children

When attempting to process your emotions following the loss of one of your children, you may find yourself grappling with whether you should show your grief, anger, and sadness to your living child or children or if you should mask your emotions to protect them from your pain.

How to Cope: Explain Your Emotions

Though parents may believe they are successfully hiding their emotions from their children, children are often very tuned into their parents’ moods. When parents mask their emotions, children may begin to believe that emotions are scary, unpredictable, and meant to be hidden.

For children to feel safe experiencing their own emotions, they need to witness their parents experience the full range of their emotions without losing control.

When your child sees you feeling sad, you might explain how you are processing your emotions at that moment. For example, when you’re struggling with sadness you could say to your child, “I feel sad. When I feel sad, I sleep a lot. I would really love a hug from you to help comfort me.” You can take this exercise further by asking your child to explain how they experience sadness.

By articulating your emotions, your children won’t have to guess how you’re feeling. They’ll also learn that experiencing emotions is not something to fear and instead emotions should be embraced and processed.

Parenting Challenge Number Two: Feeling Like You’re Failing as a Parent

With a new understanding of the fragility of life, you may find yourself driven by the desire to make every moment with your family special. The pressure to be a perfect parent may seem to become more intense and you may overextend yourself. At the same time, as you grieve, exhaustion and hostility can envelop you, and you may become irritated and angry at your family. As a result, you may find yourself trapped in a cycle of grief and guilt.

How to Cope: Remember That It’s Impossible To Be Perfect

Losing a child is traumatic. After experiencing a traumatic event, our brains instinctually engage in fight, flight, and freeze responses. Although these instinctual responses may make you feel like you’re doing something wrong, this is the brain’s way of protecting and nurturing you. Give yourself a break, be gentle to yourself, and practice the same patience and compassion with yourself as you would offer to others.

Parenting Challenge Number Three: Honoring Your Lost Child While Remaining Present for Your Family

How to Cope: Connect to Your Loss Without Allowing It To Consume You

The experience of grief is different for everyone. Honor your loss in a way that matches the waves of your grief.

When I experienced my first miscarriage, I was taken aback, scared, and lost. While I was processing my loss, my dear friend brought me flower bulbs and pumpkin bread.

I planted the flower bulbs and indulged in the sweet treat which allowed me to embrace a mindful moment with my grief. I later ended up experiencing two more pregnancy losses, which gave me the opportunity to offer myself the same gesture of planting flower bulbs and indulging in a meaningful treat.

In the springtime, my blooming flowers offer a representation of the beautiful resiliency in the face of grief. When I see my budding tulips, I feel strong, hopeful, and sad all at once, as well as grateful for all the work I put in to further my healing and growth.

RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN OF GRIEVING PARENTS

I’ve listed some of my favorite children’s books along with excerpts of their Amazon descriptions, that may help support your family through the grieving process:

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst — “Offers a very simple approach to overcoming loneliness, separation, or loss with an imaginative twist that children easily understand and embrace, and delivers a particularly compelling message in today’s uncertain times.”
The Memory Tree by Britta Teckentrup — Helps “children celebrate the memories left behind when a loved one dies.”
The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld — Explains “how to comfort and heal the people in your life, by taking the time to carefully, lovingly, gently listen.”
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek — “Explores a full range of emotions, describing how they feel physically, inside, with language that is lyrical but also direct to empower readers to practice articulating and identifying their own emotions.”

A PLACE TO GROW

Thrive is dedicated to ensuring caregivers are cared for, supported, and nurtured, especially following the loss of a pregnancy, baby, or child. We offer grief counseling for individuals, couples and families. We also hold a complimentary Perinatal Loss and Grief Support Grou p for parents struggling with a perinatal loss. Give us a call to learn more about our therapeutic services.

About the Author

Amanda Boe, LMFT — PMAD Program Clinical Lead and Therapist

Amanda Boe earned her master’s degree in counseling from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has over nine years of experience working with children, individuals and families who have experienced trauma. Her experience also includes working with clients who struggle with perinatal mood disorders, anxiety, and depression. Amanda is passionate about healing relationships among families and unresolved trauma using evidence-based practices. She is certified in Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP). Amanda offers individual, couples, and family therapy.

The post How To Continue Parenting Following the Loss of a Child first appeared on Thrive Wellness.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Your Guide to Higher Levels of Care: How to Decide Which Treatment Level is Right for Your Mental Health

By Erin McGinty Fort, MS, MHA, CPC, LPC-S, CEDS-C • December 18, 2025

Sometimes, people need more support, structure, and monitoring than the typical outpatient setting can provide. When this happens, the treatment team will usually recommend that someone be "stepped up" to a different level of care, or program, that can better meet their needs. I like to think of it as being similar to medication dosages; people need different strengths of medications, or dosages, to get better when they're sick. Stepping someone up to a higher level of care is like increasing the dosage of a medication to match the severity of their symptoms. How Are Higher Levels of Care Different from Standard Outpatient Care? At the core of differentiating higher levels of care from standard outpatient care is the intensity and structure of the treatment. Higher level of care programs tend to offer more days of treatment each week and more hours of treatment per day than in the outpatient setting. Those in higher level of care programs may also meet with their treatment team members more frequently each week. There are more staff present to support someone at or after meals and snacks, or to help those who are having urges to engage in compulsions or other harmful behaviors. Clients in our HLOC programs get access to an assortment of treatment modalities tailored to their individual needs, including personalized therapy sessions, group support, medication management, medical nutrition therapy with a dietitian, and check-ins with our primary care providers. We support clients with personalized treatment plans and regular assessments to monitor and tweak interventions as needed. Higher levels of care also offer increased peer interaction and support. Intensive programs incorporate additional group therapy sessions, which can help those in treatment feel less alone as well as create a greater sense of community. For some people, it can be difficult to devote the time and energy needed to recover while also balancing other responsibilities like school or work. Stepping up to more intensive levels of care allows people to fully dedicate themselves to recovery. As they get better and make progress, a person may be stepped back down to a less intensive level of care to start practicing their recovery in their usual home, school, or work settings while also receiving professional support from their treatment team. What Levels of Care are Available? At Thrive Wellness, we offer four different levels of care to help clients step up (or down) in their treatment when needed: - Outpatient Treatment - weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings with a therapist, psychiatrist, primary care provider, and/or dietitian. - Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) - A minimum of three hours per day, three days per week. - Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) - A minimum of six hours per day, five days per week. - Residential Treatment - Coming soon in 2026, The Greenhouse at Thrive will offer residential treatment for eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This level of care offers 24-hour support for those aged 12-24 living in our residential treatment center. How To Decide Which Level of Care is Right for You If you're unsure which option is right for you or your loved one, we offer a free assessment that can be completed with our admissions team. In this initial assessment, we'll gather information from you about what you're struggling with, speak with our team of providers, and then make a recommendation for what level of care we feel is the best fit for you and your needs. If you’re experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, anxiety disorder, or other behavioral or mental health challenges, don’t hesitate to reach out. To get started with our intake process, give us a call at 775-525-8103 or fill out this form . We can’t wait to help you Thrive.

Family Inclusive Recovery: Healing Together in Eating Disorder and OCD Treatment

December 2, 2025

Like the fir tree, a symbol of endurance rooted in hope, our Family Inclusive Recovery (FIR) approach reflects the strength that grows when families face challenges together. At our new residential center “The Greenhouse”, FIR is more than a treatment model, it’s a philosophy of healing that places families at the heart of recovery for adolescents and young adults navigating eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We believe lasting healing doesn’t happen in isolation; it’s built with the support of families through perseverance, hope, and compassionate care. What Is Family Inclusive Recovery (FIR)? Family Intensive Recovery (FIR) is a specialized and immersive approach that actively engages caregivers as central agents in their child’s healing process. Rather than seeing families as contributors to a problem, we view them as essential partners in recovery. Drawing from two evidence-based frameworks, Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) and Family-Based Treatment (FBT), FIR helps families cultivate resilience, confidence, and connection throughout the journey to recovery. Grounded in SPACE and FBT Through the SPACE model, parents learn how to recognize and reduce well-intentioned but unhelpful behaviors known as accommodations that can reinforce anxiety and OCD symptoms. By shifting from rescuing to supporting and challenging, parents develop the confidence to guide their child through discomfort, helping them build distress tolerance and self-trust. Simultaneously, Family-Based Treatment (FBT) empowers families to take an active, compassionate role in their child’s nutritional and emotional recovery. Parents learn how to support weight and nutritional restoration, disrupt the eating disorder’s patterns, and reestablish boundaries that promote health and growing autonomy. Together, these approaches strengthen both the individual and family system, allowing recovery to take root within an environment of empathy and optimism. From Blame to Collaboration A cornerstone of the FIR model is removing blame. At Thrive, parents are not viewed as the cause of their child’s struggles, but rather as key partners in recovery. Treatment focuses on joining forces to create a safe, supportive environment where: Families learn to sit with their child's discomfort alongside them without rushing to fix or control it. Parents practice compassionate firmness, setting boundaries grounded in care and safety. Teens and caregivers rebuild trust through open, honest communication. This collaborative framework helps families reestablish a sense of connection and confidence, fostering long-term resilience and open communication that extends beyond the treatment setting. Why Family Matters in Recovery Recovery from eating disorders, OCD, or anxiety isn’t a one-person job, it requires integrated care including the family. When families learn to navigate challenges together, they can model emotional regulation, reinforce healthy boundaries, and create conditions for sustained recovery. Through FIR, we aim to strengthen attachment bonds, reshape family interactions, and empower every member of the family to grow. The result is not only symptom reduction but also a deeper sense of unity, hope, and shared endurance, just like the steadfast fir tree that stands resilient through every season. Moving Toward Hope Family Inclusive Recovery invites caregivers and loved ones to become active participants in change. It’s a journey of learning, letting go, and leaning into love and acceptance. Together, families and clinicians can cultivate the courage in clients to face uncertainty, and in doing so, help them discover that recovery is not just possible, but enduring. If you’d like to learn more about Family Intensive Recovery at The Greenhouse or how we support families in eating disorder and OCD treatment, reach out to our team today.

Introducing Thrive's Greenhouse - Opening 2026

November 14, 2025

The Greenhouse at Thrive Wellness A New Chapter of Hope and Healing in Nevada On Friday, November 14 , we gathered with our partners at Molina Healthcare to share an important moment for our community. Together, we celebrated Molina’s generous $50,000 grant , an investment that is helping bring The Greenhouse to life. Their support is not only a financial contribution—it’s a statement of belief in the young people and families of Nevada who deserve access to compassionate, evidence-based mental healthcare close to home. This gathering marked the beginning of something we’ve dreamed about for years: a place designed specifically for adolescents and emerging adults to receive the care, connection, and support they need during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Something New Is Growing In early 2026 , Thrive Wellness will open The Greenhouse , Nevada’s first residential treatment center devoted to adolescents and emerging adults navigating eating disorders, anxiety, and OCD . For too long, families have faced a heartbreaking dilemma—send their child far from home for treatment or go without the specialized care they need. The Greenhouse is our answer to that gap. It will be a place where young people can settle into an environment built for healing, where they are understood, supported, and surrounded by a team that believes in their capacity to recover. The Greenhouse represents a natural extension of our mission. It’s a living expression of our belief that recovery is possible—and that with the right support, families can find their footing again.