Many authors have written about the psychological consequences for the survivors when a family member commits suicide. Most clinicians use bereavement as a paradigm for planning therapeutic interventions. We have not been able to find any articles which recognize that the experience may be a form of child abuse. We believe that using the model of child abuse as well as traditionally used models of bereavement and trauma may be helpful when understanding the child’s predicament and planning therapeutic interventions. Two cases, involving four children, illustrate this perspective.
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