Dr. Annette Athy

Drowning in a sea of grief and kleenex? Trying to wrap your head around the permanent loss of a loved one as you wipe your tears--just in time to meet the eyes of your child, where a different version of devastation is welling up.

Now what?

No one wants to say the word DIED or DEAD, especially to their child. But what you do in the months following this enormous loss will impact your son or daughter going forward.

What do you say? What do you not say? How do you comfort your innocent child? You don’t want to screw them up because you did or said the wrong thing, Grief was NOT in the parenting handbook!

At age 6- I attended my first funeral. Standing in the cold, blowing rain at the graveside service, the men held big, black umbrellas to block the elements. Attending a funeral at such a young age didn’t make me fear death. It normalized the circle of life.

Hello, I’m Dr. Annette Athy, a Certified Clini-Coach®, Grief Specialist, and child development expert. I can help you navigate your child’s grief with confidence. With over 20 years of experience helping families talk about death and how to deal with the impact of their loss, I’ve learned death is one of the most complicated topics to navigate as a family.

No matter how your loved one left this world, the magnitude of GRIEF remains! Our grief is often all-consuming, but your child is looking to you as their anchor of stability easing the burden. As a grief specialist, I teach you strategies to ease the burden of your child’s grief, special ways to honor your loved one, and language to help your child understand death.