Talking About Grief With Counselor Samantha Anthony

Philadelphia is awash in grieving children and families. But it’s not all bad news, because where there are serious problems, there are humans at work on serious solutions.

In my years as a classroom teacher, I saw many organizations try to help students with problems like grief. Rarely did I see an immediate impact — that is, until I observed the work of Uplift, formerly known as The Center for Grieving Children.

Uplift’s therapists go into schools (and other places where kids gather) and convene groups of young people who have lost someone significant. Some of my students involved with Uplift moved from despondent and unfocused to engaged and hopeful after just six sessions. My only regret was that they couldn’t work with more of the kids in my school. It sometimes felt like they were only getting at the tip of an iceberg.

Because I believe so deeply that children need this kind of support, I invited Samantha Anthony, a senior clinician, to speak with me about her work facilitating therapeutic grief groups with youth in grades K-12. Like others at Uplift, Samantha also provides support for the families of grieving children.

Samantha and I talk about how grief presents itself in young people, as well as our own experiences with grief, her work with students at the Juvenile Justice Center, and what it means to say that grief is a social justice issue.

It’s a heavy but hopeful conversation about the good that comes when we acknowledge grief in community and with mindful empathy.

The Mighty Writers Podcast with Maureen Boland is produced by Mighty Writers in partnership with Rowhome Productions. The executive producer is Tim Whitaker. Lead producer is Danya AbdelHameid. Rowhome’s executive producers are Alex Lewis and John Myers.

Our theme song was composed by Jim Morgan.

This episode also includes music from Blue Dot Sessions.