Host: Dr. Cindy Hovington, Ph.D.

Guest: Dr. Michael Schwartzman & Dr. Elena Lister

Dr. Elena Lister is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the senior consulting analyst for grief at Columbia Psychoanalytic Center. She treats adults and children facing all life challenges, specializes in grief and is a frequently sought-out expert when dealing with loss in schools and organizations across the nation. She is the co-author of I Will Remember You: A Guidebook Through Grief for Teens.

Dr. Michael Schwartzman is a New York State licensed psychologist and a psychoanalyst, board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychologists. He works with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families in his private practice offices in Manhattan and Westchester, New York. For almost forty years, he has also been a consulting psychologist to schools and businesses and has lectured widely, including television and radio appearances. He has published books and articles for parents, teachers and other caregivers, as well as numerous professional papers.

Summary:

Content warning: death, death of family members and pets, suicide

In today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Elena Lister and Dr. Michael Schwartzman authors of Giving Hope: Conversations with Children About Illness, Death and Loss. During this conversation, we approach many questions from the Curious Neuron community about death, and how to talk to your children about death.

Dr. Lister & Schwartzman give us many tools & scripts we can use as parents. This episode was so insightful for my parenting journey, and I’m sure it will be for yours too. Not only do we cover grieving in children, but we also discuss how death can be something difficult for adults too. We cover so many great topics like pregnancy loss, suicide, and death of a grandparent or pet.

Tune in to hear why every 4-year-old needs a goldfish, it’s more than just learning how to care for another life.