Without You ― Children And Young People Growing Up With Loss And Its Effects

Adults often believe that children are quick to overcome and forget loss, but there is evidence that children are affected by the memory and impact of loss throughout their lives, and especially during the years that they grow-up.In this sympathetic book, Tamar Granot explains the immediate and long-term effects of loss on children and adolescents. She describes how loss is experienced at different ages, explains the significant consequences it can have at each stage of the children's development and the effects it might have on the development of their personality. The author describes how the circumstances of the loss and its aftermath and the behavior of parents and other significant caregivers influence the child's reaction. She explores the special effects of different kinds of loss, including the suicide of a parent or sibling, murder, the loss of a parent through death and parental abandonment due to divorce, disease, substance abuse, etc. Tamar Granot emphasizes how important it is to stay attuned to the special needs of these children along their growing years and provides practical and sensitive explanations and advice on how best to support them. Adults who experienced loss in childhood will find the book insightful to retrospective understanding of the effects of the loss on their growth and adult life, especially on their emotional state and their functioning in intimate relationships and as parents.Drawing on theories of loss and child development in an accessible way, Without You provides valuable guidance for parents and carers of bereaved children, as well as for the professionals who support them.

For 25 years Tamar Granot was the National Head of Psychological Services in the Department of Rehabilitation at Israel's Ministry of Defence. In this capacity she helped develop breakthrough treatments for bereaved adults and children, and disabled veterans and their families. She has also given training workshops to Israeli professionals working with adults and children who have experienced loss. Her book Loss (1985) was one of the first self-help books published in Israel to support adults who have suffered traumatic loss.