Helping children cope with tragedy after mass shooting

AURORA, CO -- Family members and friends of those killed in the mass shooting during the Dark Knight Rises midnight showing Friday, July 20th are mourning their deaths. A six-year-old was the youngest victim. A child and family therapist says coping with tragedy is difficult, especially when young children are involved.

Aaron Heffernan is a child and family therapist with the Children's Service Society of Wisconsin. He says the way parents communicate with their children is important when coping with loss and tragedy.

"It's important to remember to communicate with your child in language that's developmentally appropriate.  If you have a five-year-old, make sure you're talking in five-year-old language.  That may be words, but it may be also drawing, art and play," Heffernan said.

Heffernan says it is also important to remember children pay attention to their parents' actions.

"Kids are tuned into their parents, and the way that a parent processes tragedy and responds, and the way a parent checks in with themselves, and where they're holding their anxiety in their bodies, let's say. Checking in with that will make them that much more responsive and more attuned to their child.  It's about being attuned to your kid," Heffernan said.

Heffernan adds who children get information from can make a difference.

"There's certainly something to be said about a parent having control over the information the child gets, and for the parent to be the first one to explain the event to the child as opposed to in the locker room, or on the playground, or at school from another kid who may not have all of the facts straight," Heffernan said.

Mental Health America has developed guidelines to help Americans respond and cope with tragic events.

CLICK HERE for more information via Mental Health America.

CLICK HERE for more Colorado shooting coverage from FOX6Now.com.