Before they understand the various diagnoses and treatment options available, many clients present to counseling because of trouble navigating the same human phenomenon: heartbreak. Under this label fall countless events such as a painful breakup, the death of a loved one or the failure to attain a major life goal.

The American Counseling Association has extended its support to an initiative that, if passed by Congress, would amend the benefits of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include bereavement and allow employees who have experienced the death of a child to take time off for the healing process.

When a military plane on a routine mission from Anchorage, Alaska, to Juneau crashed and killed all eight service members aboard in 1994, Judy Mathewson found herself thinking about the families of the deceased and their need to grieve. “I knew the children who had lost their fathers that day