Lessons Learned – 20 Years of Grief and Loss from children, teens, and adults.
Emilio Parga, M.Ed.
Bio:
Emilio Parga is the Founder and Executive Director of The Solace Tree in Reno, Nevada, providing grief and loss support for children, teens, and adults. Over the past 20 years, he has coordinated support groups at The Solace Tree as well as four School Districts in Nevada, providing on-site support to staff, families, businesses and companies, and students who have been identified at risk, through the Good Grief Project that he specifically created for K-12 students.
He is a former lecturer for the University of Nevada, Reno in the College of Education and Adjunct/Clinical Faculty for the Nevada School of Medicine teaching courses on death and dying and helping children and teens cope with death and All loss. A national speaker, Emilio serves as a bereavement consultant/trainer to local schools, social services, hospitals, funeral homes, and businesses. Working alongside first responders and with families, following traumatic events such as: 9/11 (2006), Reno Air Races (2011), the IHOP shooting (2011), the Aurora movie theater shooting (2012), the Sparks Middle School shooting (2013), and the Las Vegas shooting (2017). Emilio has gained valuable insight and experience with assisting communities in the aftermath of a tragic events.
As a Pediatric Thanatologist, Emilio has authored several books on grief and loss for both children and teens selling nationally and internationally. Emilio has co-founded four grief centers in Nevada and one in New York. He is a member of The National Alliance for Children’s Grief.
Description:
The impact of loss for children and teens is well documented and affects school performance, relationships, and an understanding of life. How children and teens are supported by death and other losses in their lives will shape how they respond to grief and loss as an adult. In this 90-minute presentation, the participants will learn about lesson’s learned from thousands of families who are grieving the death of one loved, grief group in schools, develop a better understanding on how to communicate with grieving children, teens, and adults (during and after a loss) to better provide an appropriate conversation, presence, and support. Below are some topics to be discussed but not limited to each presentation:
At completion of this presentation, participants will learn:
- Lessons learned / Accomplishments – 20 years grief support;
- The Good Grief Project;
- Principles of childhood, teen, and adult grief;
- The death of a child, teen, parent, staff member;
- Suicide is everybody’s business; and
- Interactive discussion (Q & A).
