Losing someone you love is a traumatic experience, and for a child it can be devastating.

To assist in overcoming this trauma, Dr. Mindy Cassel of Pinecrest has teamed with Dr. Carol Berns of South Miami to open the Children’s Bereavement Center in the Alper Jewish Community Center, 11155 SW 112 Ave. The CBC is designed to help children and families work their way through the loss of a loved one.

Dr. Carol Berns, (l) and Dr. Mindy Cassel

"Dr. Cassel and I for the last couple of years have been talking about the needs of the community and about doing some work where we could combine our community altruism with our field, which is psychology," said Dr. Berns

"Both of us were very interested in separation and loss issues. Mindy’s area of specialty was in infants, toddlers and young children, and I came from the school system and saw a great need to work with kids who experienced a loss."

The psychologists conducted an extensive feasibility study and learned that there were no public programs locally available to assist children and families who have suffered the loss or death of someone they loved. In fact, they say, outside of hospitals, the closest support group is in Palm Beach county.

"We wanted to take the whole notion of bereavement and grief out of the illness model," Dr. Cassel said. "We wanted to look at it as a healthful, natural process. So, we decided that we were going to be a community-based, not-for-profit center for healthful grieving."

In essence, the Children’s Bereavement Center establishes support groups for youngsters to attend and discuss their losses with their peers.

"Often they can’t articulate their grief," Dr. Cassel said. "They can’t say exactly what they’re feeling because they’re having so many feelings at once, it’s so confusing and they’ve never felt this kind of intense feeling before. Having other children say what they feel helps them and they say, ‘Oh, yeah, that happened to me, too’ or, ‘Let me tell you what’s going on with me.’ And, it opens the door for them."

The CBC offers a wide range of support groups based on age or relation, from pre-school groups of 3 to 5 years old, to grade school groups of 6-11, to teen groups, to siblings, parental, grandparent and friends. In essence, the groups share experiences, thus reducing isolation and normalizing the grieving process.

"They really gain a sense of wisdom with this loss and they have so much to say, so much to share," Dr. Cassel said. "And, so much is learned just from that sharing."