Name: Why Did Spot Have to Die?: Talking With Children and Teens About Death and Dying
Start: 2025-07-16T11:00:00-0500
End: 2025-07-16T11:55:00-0500

Wednesday July 16, 2025 11:00am - 11:55am CDT

301B

This session is also available at 9:45am.

Learning Objectives:

Discuss and evaluate a young person's conceptualization of death depending upon developmental level.
Understand the continuum of the grief reaction, and be able to identify when care needs to be escalated.
Review helpful reactions and explanations of loss to facilitate successful grieving.
Discuss special issues related to loss (to include pet, sibling, parental loss) and how to address them.

Abstract:
Grief and loss are inevitable aspects of childhood and adolescence. In order to best help our kids and teens, we must be prepared to address these instances to facilitate successful growth and development. Through a case-based, interactive approach, we will examine how young people of various developmental levels view death and loss. Developmental level-appropriate reactions, explanations, and discussions of death and loss will also be reviewed.

Statement of need: As grief and loss are inevitable aspects of childhood and adolescence, we must be comfortable beginning these difficult conversations and discussing these topics to facilitate successful grieving/development.

Speakers

Abigail Talley, MD

Psychiatrist

Abigail Talley, MD, is board-certified in both Adult Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Born and raised in San Antonio, Dr. Talley attended Trinity University, where she received a B.S. in Biology. She completed medical school, General Psychiatry residency, and Child... Read More →

Wednesday July 16, 2025 11:00am - 11:55am CDT
301B

Breakout session