PRUŽANJE PODRŠKE DJECI NAKON GUBITKA BLISKE OSOBE

The objective of the paper is to indicate the ways of giving psychological support to children after they experience the loss of a close person, such as a parent, a grandparent, a brother, a sister, a friend, their friend’s parent, a teacher or some other adult person or a child they know. Children’s understanding of death is associated with their age and a level of cognitive development. Children’s reactions to the loss are numerous, from anxiety, vivid memories of the past loss, sleeping disorders, sadness and longing for the lost person, anger, quilt and self-reproach for the loss to physical disorders and learning difficulties. For children, as well as for adults, the mourning process might be very difficult and painful. However, if adults help them in an adequate way to accept the loss emotionally and cognitively, it will be less painful and without consequences for their subsequent development.