Understanding How System-Involved Youth Utilize Developmental Regression in the Grief Process

Shoshana Phoenixx

Training Description

This training explores regression as one way that children and youth may communicate grief when grief overwhelms their current emotional, sensory, and developmental capacity. For system-involved youth (SIY), grief may be shaped by death, disrupted caregiving, or changing expectations or routines. Participants will examine how earlier developmental needs can reappear during grief and how those moments can offer important information about a Siy’s need for reassurance, connection, predictability, and care.

The training supports caregivers and service providers in responding to regression with patience, curiosity, and developmentally respectful support. Through reflective discussion and creative grief-engagement practices, participants will learn how to identify the need underneath the behavior, respond without shame, and support grieving SIY in ways that protect dignity, trust, and emotional safety.

Learning Objectives