Kid Support is an 8 week program for children ages 6-12. This program was created as a way to help children cope when a loved one has cancer. When cancer enters children’s lives it can turn their lives and their family’s lives upside down. It is not uncommon for children to believe that they caused the cancer, can catch cancer or that everyone who gets cancer dies. Research shows that the more information a child has about cancer and what it means to the family the less terrifying, scary, and isolating cancer becomes. The Kid Support program is a way to assist parents and loved ones in helping children cope with cancer in their lives and strengthen their relationship with each other. The Kid Support program gives children an opportunity to meet other children with similar experiences, learn that they are not alone and learn new skills to help reduce the stress that comes with cancer. Children will be able to get their questions about cancer answered and learn how to ask for help and how to talk to others about cancer. There is no charge to participate in the Kid Support program. Tuesday Evenings, 5:30-7:30 pm
(complimentary dinner will be provided)
 
 
If interested, please contact Kathleen Williams, LCSW at 546-4661

 

Download our Kid Support flyer or this page information as a PDF.

Goal: To help children start to talk about what it is like to have cancer in their family and to reduce their feeling of isolation.

Goal: To answer the children’s questions about cancer; address any misconceptions; help children articulate how their lives have changed as a result of cancer; normalize their reactions to change, and to help them feel comfortable with talking about cancer.

Goal: To help children identify, and to regard as normal, feelings experienced with cancer, understand that feeling can be experienced in the mind and the body, and to help them express their feelings in a positive way.

Goal: To help children talk about the changes in their lives and their worries about how their family life has changed.

Goal: To increase children’s awareness of the feelings inside their bodies and learn different ways they can relax.

Goal: To normalize death as a natural part of the life cycle and answer any questions and to encourage children to express their reactions and fears.

Goal: To develop children’s self-awareness and self-confidence and to understand their family’s unique strengths.

Goal: To help children practice solving problems and to facilitate communication between parents and children, and children and their peers.

Kid Support and Kid2Kid are sponsored by Mount Rest Fund of The East Tennessee Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.