Therapists, physicians, police officers, and emergency staff often are the messengers of bad news. They have to tell a patient, a parent, or a loved one about a death, an accident, a school shooting, a life-threatening diagnosis, a terrorist attack, or a suicide. Usually the messenger bears a heavy responsibility but has little training and seeks to communicate bad news as soon as possible. When they have to deliver highly upsetting news to children, the goal is to provide support as they lead the children to discovery of the difficult truth, rather than plunge them into shock and trauma.