Written by: Christina Richardson, LPC-Intern
Client Services Coordinator
I picked up my first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in 2001. I recall reading the book with confusion, not realizing the book was a part of a series. I immediately went to the book store to purchase the first book, The Sorcerer’s Stone, and began my journey into the world of Harry Potter. Before picking up this book I had no idea that Harry Potter had lost his parents. Immediately I connected with this character and the story, because of the recent very unexpected loss of my father. Although my story does not include loss due to a crime, it was traumatic for me just as Harry’s loss and the details that unfolded regarding his parents death was traumatic for him. As the characters unfold and we journey from book to book we see how loss, especially violent loss of parents affected many of the characters in this book and how they cope, survive and thrive through their loss. Each day I work with victims of crime and hear stories from grandparents, aunts and guardians who are trying to help children and teenagers through the sudden and violent loss of a parent. They ask, “What should I say?” “What should I do to help them?” There’s a quote in the Sorcerer’s Stone that says, "LOVE as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever." Oftentimes we don’t know how to talk to the child about the loved one who is gone, but the best remedy is to talk about them at the pace of the child. We shouldn’t act like their memory or impact is no longer there but help the child remember the love and protection that the parent offered and how that memory and feeling will always be with them. Join us over the next several weeks as we embark on the Magical World of Harry Potter and create a space for healing through trauma. Healing happens through connection, and Trauma Support Services of North Texas believes in this message, providing spaces for healing to happen by connecting clients with limited resources with trauma-informed therapists at no cost for as long as it takes!
For more information : https://victimconnect.org/learn/types-of-crime/homicide-and-grief/
