Linda Goldman has a Fellow in Thanatology (FT): Death, Dying, and Bereavement (FT) with an MS degree in counseling, and master’s equivalency in early childhood education. Linda is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC). She worked as a teacher and counselor in the public school system for almost twenty years and a grief therapist in Chevy Chase, MD with children, teenagers, and grieving adults. Linda shares workshops, courses, and trainings on children’s grief and taught as an adjunct faculty in the Graduate Program of Counseling at Johns Hopkins University and Kings College Ontario Canada, University of Maryland School of Social Work/Advanced Certification Program for Children and Adolescents, Penn. State, Buffalo School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, The National Transportation Safety Board, The University of Hong Kong, and The National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan. She has also taught LGBT Youth and Children’s grief and trauma at Johns Hopkins Graduate School, the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and the Child Welfare Administration. Her many articles, including
Healing Magazine’s Helping the Grieving Child in the Schools (2012),
The Bullying Epidemic, Creating Safe Havens for Gay Youth in Schools (2006),
Parenting Gay Youth (2008),
Talking to Kids About Suicide (2014),
Helping Kids Cope with Grief of Losing a Pet (2014), and
What Complicates Grief for Children: A Case Study (2015),
Talking to Children about Climate Change (2022), and
Talking to Children about COVID (2021). Articles have been translated into Chinese for the Suicide Prevention Program of Beijing and Ukrainian. Linda appeared on the radio show
Helping Gay Youth: Parents Perspective (2008) and has testified before the MD Joint House and Senate Priorities Hearing for Marriage Equality (2007) and MD Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee for the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act (2008).
Linda has consulted for the National Head Start Program,
National Geographic, and
Sesame Street. She was a panelist in the National Teleconference:
When A Parent Dies: How to Help the Child and appeared on the Diane Rehms show,
Children and Grief, and Dan Rodrick’s Baltimore NPR
Gay youth. She was named by the
Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top therapists in the MD, VA. DC area in 1998 and again named by
The Washingtonian Magazine as a therapist to go to after the terrorist attacks in 2001. She served on ADEC’s board, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the advisory board of SPEAK, Suicide Prevention Education Awareness for Kids, RAINBOWS for Our Children, Academic Advisory Board of Annual Editions/Death, Dying and Bereavement/ McGraw Hill. Presently she was on the advisory board of TAPS, The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors of the Military.
Linda received the ADEC Clinical Practice Award 2003. She taught on the pre-conference faculty for the annual ADEC Conference in 2010, 2014, and 2018, and participated as a panelist for the annual National Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference in 2018.
Linda Goldman is the author of
Life and Loss: A Guide to Help Grieving Children (First edition, 1994/2nd ed. 2000, 3rd ed, 2014/ Classic Ed. 2022 Routledge), and
Breaking the Silence: A Guide to Help Children with Complicated Grief (1st ed., 1996/2nd ed. 2002. Other books include
Bart Speaks Out: An Interactive Storybook for Young Children On Suicide (1998) WPS publishers, a Phi Delta Kappan International fastback,
Helping the Grieving Child in the School (2000), and a Chinese Edition of
Breaking the Silence: A Guide to Help Children With Complicated Grief (2002), Japanese Edition of
Life and Loss: A Guide to Help Grieving Children (2005), and
Raising Our Children to Be Resilient: A Guide for Helping Children Cope with Trauma in Today’s World (2005) and a children’s interactive story and memory book
Children Also Grieve: Talking about Death and Healing (2005), Chinese translation of
Children Also Grieve (2007),
Coming Out, Coming In: Nurturing the Well Being and Inclusion of Gay Youth in Mainstream Society (2008, Library Edition, 2016), and
Lucy Let’s Go: Helping Children Love a Pet Through Death and Dying, (2014). Her contributing chapters include
Loss of the Assumptive World (2002),
Annual Death, Dying, and Bereavement (2001-2013),
Family Counseling and Therapy Techniques (1998), and
The School Services Sourcebook: A Guide for School-Based Professionals (2006, 2012, 2nd edition, in-press 2023 3rd ed.). She has also written two books to be included in a series,
Great Answers to Difficult Questions about Death (2009), Polish translation, (2012), Korean translation, (2013), Czech translation (2015) and
Great Answers to Difficult Questions about Sex (2010), Czech Translation (2016). Currently
Life and Loss Classic Edition and
Children Also Grieve (in-press 2024) are being translated into Ukrainian.
Another important resource is
Creating Inclusion and Well-being for Marginalized Students: Whole-School Approaches to Supporting Children’s Grief, Loss, and Trauma (Jessica Kingsley, 2017). Current books include
Life and Loss: A Guide to Help Grieving Children-Classic Edition Routledge Mental Health Series, 2022 and
Climate Change and Youth: Turning Anxiety and Depression into Action and Hope, Routledge, 2022. Linda wrote a current chapter on climate change and youth in:
International Handbook of Child and Adolescent Losses in Contemporary Context. Routledge. In-press 2023. Linda presented two webinars,
Climate Change, Youth, and Grief and Loss for Kings College students 2023 and the Montana Grief Institute, 2023.
Linda also created a CD-ROM
A Look at Children’s Grief (2001) published by ADEC, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and she was a part of ADEC’s Webinar series,
Children and Grief, 2009,
LGBTQ Youth and Loss, 2014. Her op/ed
Cut Out Guns, Bullying appeared in the
Baltimore Sun, March 2001. She was an important part of the
Washington Post article,
How To Talk to Kids about Suicide and has participated in other interviews for articles in the media including the
Washington Post, The LA Times, USA Today, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, Seventeen Magazine, ABC News, US Magazine, The Huffington Post, Helping Children After a Parent Dies (2019) and the Washington Post, (2021), the Atlantic (2022), and the Ukrainian Newspaper HB “How to help a child with losses caused by the war (2022)”.
Linda contributed in many ways after 9/11. She authored the chapter about children,
Talking to Children about Terrorism in
Living with Grief: Coping with Public Tragedy, Published by the Hospice Foundation of America 2003. She contributed to
The Journal for Mental Health Counselors in their special grief issue in the article
Grief Counseling with Children in Contemporary Society, 2004. She was a strong part of the TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) response team at the Pentagon Family Assistance Center, conducted a workshop about children and grief at the 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2010 TAPS
National Military Survivor seminar, authored articles including,
Helping Children With Grief and Trauma (2002, 2003) and
Fostering Resilience in Children: How to Help Kids Cope With Adversity (2005),
Children Coping with a Military Death (2008)
TAPS Journal. In 2018, Linda participated in the panel for the National Hospice Association Annual Teleconference, and ADEC pre-conference faculty on children and grief. She also presented
Helping Grieving Children webinar sponsored by the non-profit organization, First Aid for the Soul, working with mental health workers and children’s grief in Ukraine 2023.
Linda contributed on the Public Broadcasting Series Program
Keeping Kids Healthy on Children and Grief, which aired in October 2006, and KNBP Channel 5 Public Broadcasting -
You’ll Always Be With Me, Nevada Children and Grief, (2010). She consulted with
Sesame Street for their program and materials on
Children and Grief and
Children and the Military (2010, 2022). She was a panelist for the ADEC Webinar
Children and Grief, December 2022, and the ADEC Webinar,
Climate Change, Youth, and Grief and Loss, June 2023. She also is the recipient of the “The Tenth Global Concern of Human Life Award 2007”.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Linda Goldman maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Linda Goldman is a member of the National Board of Certified Counselors, the American Counseling Association, the American Association of Suicidology, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
