Experience of significant bereavement is reported by the majority of young people in contemporary western societies, but it receives little attention from mainstream services or academics, and this marginality is paralleled in young people's everyday bereavement experiences. Existing academic and professional work concerned with children and young…

Significant experiences with death and dying can be viewed as maturational crises through which people learn to cope with themselves during adversity and change. The death counselor needs to be knowledgeable about human development across the lifespan and sensitive to the problems of communication. (Author)