Children's grief and creativity: The experience of losing a sibling

Abstract

When children lose one of their siblings, they seek their parents' emotional support. However, because their parents also feel the loss of one of their children, they cannot provide adequate emotional support for the living ones. Consequently, children have difficulty mourning that loss. This study aims to understand the psychodynamics of children who lost a sibling. The research involved three children, two boys at the age of 11 and 12, and a girl at the age of eight. Individual sessions were conducted to apply the House-Tree-Person Test (HTP) and the Fables Test with the children. Family environments were fragile, driving participants to suppress their feelings and develop symptoms such as learning disability, fear of death, psychosomatic symptoms, dependency, and difficulty in the symbolization process. To express their grief, children need to use their creativity, with the aid of an external environment that offers holding. Such setting allows them to express anguish and anxiety, and to resume their emotional development, despite the difficulties.