Children experience trauma and loss more often than many of us realize, through school violence, natural disasters, family death, displacement, and global conflict.
In this episode, we hear from three leaders working at the intersection of pediatric care, grief support, and mental health innovation, each approaching healing from a different lens.
Dr. David Schonfeld, Director at the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, explains why crisis response must be tailored, sustained, and rooted in community empowerment. He challenges the misconception that resilience means children will simply “bounce back” without support.
Emma Payne, Founder & CEO at Help Text, shares how grief often leaves families isolated, not because people do not care, but because they do not know what to say. Through thoughtful, human-centered communication, she demonstrates how small, consistent touchpoints can ease loneliness and reduce suffering.
Dr. Solfrid Raknes, psychologist, researcher and creator of the Helping Hand Digital Game, brings a global perspective, showing how digital tools grounded in cognitive behavioral principles can help children process fear, anxiety, and traumatic memories, even in refugee camps and war zones.
This episode is a reminder that healing is not about fixing pain quickly, but about showing up consistently, listening carefully, and creating systems that allow children and caregivers to feel supported over time.
Key Topics Discussed:
- Children’s responses to trauma, grief, and crisis
- Why resilience does not mean children should cope alone
- School and community-based crisis response
- Moral injury and burnout among caregivers and educators
- Bereavement support for families and siblings
- Text-based and digital mental health interventions
- Trauma-informed care in fragile and conflict settings
- Post-traumatic growth and recovery
About Dr. David Schonfeld:
Dr. Schonfeld is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He is Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters and a former member of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children and Disasters; he served on the National Biodefense Science Board from 2018-2021 and as a Commissioner for both the National Commission on Children and Disasters and the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission in Connecticut. Dr. Schonfeld has authored over 150 scholarly articles, book chapters, and books. He has provided consultation and training on school crisis and pediatric bereavement for over 35 years in the aftermath of numerous school crisis events and disasters within the United States and abroad. He has also conducted school-based research (funded by NICHD, NIMH, NIDA, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, William T. Grant Foundation, and other foundations) involving children’s understanding of and adjustment to serious illness and death and school-based interventions to promote adjustment and risk prevention.
About Emma Payne:
Emma Payne is a seasoned technology entrepreneur, MIT graduate, and award-winning change-agent with 30 years’ experience leading game-changing online and mobile projects including building North America’s first online crisis intervention line. Following her husband’s suicide, Emma founded Help Texts in 2018, with a deep commitment to making expert bereavement care available to everyone grieving the death of a loved one. Now delivering support in 59 countries and 28 languages, Help Texts is the world’s leading bereavement intervention, proven to deliver life-changing, meaningful, support at scale, for life’s toughest moments.
About Dr. Solfrid Raknes:
I am a PhD holder and Clinical Psychologist experienced in initiating, creating, implementing, evaluating, and leading social and behavioral protection and change programs for children and adolescents. I have a proven track record in delivering positive mental health and well-being outcomes in fragile contexts and across economic divides.
Special interests: health promotion and prevention of mental health disorders, large scale implementation, tech in mental health: e-health, e-learning, serious games, edutainment, children and adolescents, CBT and low intensity CBT, social and emotional learning.
