Grief Support for Addiction and Overdose Losses

Grief is the normal and natural reaction to any significant loss, whether that is a bereavement loss or a non-death loss. Family members of those with substance use disorders often experience deep ambiguous loss, a type of grief often misunderstood by professionals and can prove incredibly complex for families. The first half of this is designed to understand and provide strategies for families grieving loved ones who are living with substance use disorders.

The second half of this program will assist professionals in responding to the unique grief following a substance-related death. Over...Read moredose deaths hit 107,000 in 2021, a record in the US and an increase of nearly 20% over the previous annual high. Unfortunately, research and support around this type of loss remain limited. This session will provide strategies for supporting those dealing with the most common complex issues of substance-related grief, including disenfranchised grief, guilt, blame, relief, and introducing basic coping tools for individuals and support systems. Less...

Learning Objectives

  • Define grief and explore the impact of grief both before and after a death to overdose or other substance-related cause.
  • Identify key indicators of ambiguous grief and introduce therapeutic and psychoeducational interventions to ease the stress of ambiguous loss for families with loved one(s) with substance use disorders.
  • Articulate common modern grief theories in contrast to the traditional stage mode of grief and their applications in cases of addiction and overdose.
  • Describe the unique aspects of the disenfranchised grief experience of family members and friends who have lost a loved one to addiction.
  • Apply evidence-informed principles of grief support to family members of those experiencing grief following a substance use death.

Learning Levels

  • Intermediate

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Live Interactive Webinar

01:00 PM EDT - 04:15 PM EDT

Register for this Webinar
EARN 3 CE Credit Hours

About the speakers

Litsa Williams MA, LCSW-C

Litsa Williams MA, LCSW-C

Litsa Williams, MA, LCSW-C is the co-founder of the online grief organization What’s Your Grief. She’s a grief therapist with 15 years of experience, with expertise in sudden and traumatic loss as well as ambiguous grief. Drawing on personal and professional experience with grief, WYG was built as a resource offering concrete, practical, creative, down-to-earth, and relatable support, founded on the values of psychoeducation and creative coping. It has grown to serve more than 3 million visitors each year. Litsa received her master's degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work, as well as a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Warwick (UK). She has been interviewed as a grief expert for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and New York Times. She co-authored the 2022 book What's Your Grief: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss.
Eleanor Haley, MS

Eleanor Haley, MS

Eleanor Haley, MS is co-founder of What’s Your Grief, one of the country’s largest online grief and bereavement support communities which is accessed by over 3 million grievers every year. With a background in counseling psychology, Eleanor has over 15 years of expertise in grief, with expertise in working with families who have experienced traumatic and unexpected losses. She is co-author of the book What's Your Grief: Lists to Help You Through Any Loss and has co-authored 15 grief publications used in hospitals, hospices, funeral homes, and OPOs across the US and Canada. She has experience teaching psychology courses at the college level and is passionate about innovative teaching methods, technologies, and pedagogical approaches to enhance grief education and support. She has been interviewed as a grief expert for media outlets including NPR, Washington Post, The New York Times, USNews, and Huffington Post.

Agenda

1:00-1:30 Introduction, data review, and defining grief

  • Doka and the introduction of the grief beyond bereavement loss.

1:30-2:30 Grief and Addiction: Understanding Non-Death Loss

  • Defining the two types of ambiguous loss
  • Relational stress and assessing the impact of ambiguous loss
    • Individuals
    • Family Systems

2:30-2:45 Break

2:45-3:15 Grief and Overdose Loss: Understanding Disenfranchised Grief

  • Defining disenfranchised loss
  • The role of support systems and subjectivity
  • The impact of disenfranchised losses on grief

3:15-4:00 Common Grief Experiences and Interventions

  • Those unaware of a substance use disorder
  • Those aware of a substance use disorder
  • Friends and family also abusing substances.

4:00-4:05 Locating Community Resources

4:05-4:15 Questions and Close

CE Information - Earn 3 CE Credit Hours

CE Approvals

American Psychological Association
CE Learning Systems, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE Learning Systems maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work
CE Learning Systems SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0060.
New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy
CE Learning Systems (d/b/a CE-credit.com), is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0008
New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors
CE Learning Systems, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners
What's Your Grief is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners in Maryland to sponsor social work continuing education learning activities and maintains full responsibility for this program. This training qualifies for 3 Category I continuing education units.
Maryland State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists
This program/activity has been approved by the Maryland State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists to satisfy Category A continuing education requirements
New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology
CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0016.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy
CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0045.

CE Process Info

Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by his/her licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend "live" (in real-time) to earn CE's. 


A continuing education certificate for the event will be obtained using the website, CE-Go. Before the event, you will receive an email containing a link to CE-Go. (This link will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event). 

Upon accessing the CE-Go website, you will be able to: 

  • Complete evaluation forms for the event 

  • Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format 


If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go process, please contact CE-Go at 888-498-5578 or by email at support@ce-go.com 


Please Note: Emails for this event will come from "support@ce-go.com". Please make sure to check your spam/junk folder in case those emails get "stuck". We'd also suggest "whitelisting" support@ce-go.com. This tells your email client that you know this sender and trust them, which will keep emails from this contact at the top of your inbox and out of the junk folder.