Grief Therapy Techniques: a foundation for clinicians

There has always been a deep need for therapists, social workers, and counselors to provide grief and bereavement support to clients. And yet the majority of Masters and PhD programs in theses fields do not require coursework in grief therapy approaches and techniques. This leaves many clinicians trying to adapt other approaches which, in many cases, are not appropriate or evidence-informed in working with grieving clients. This session will provide clinicians a strong foundation in grief counseling and therapy techniques. It will also provide clinician evaluation tools for assessing whether t...Read morerauma responses or depression may need to be addressed prior to or in tandem with grief counseling approaches. The workshop presumes a basic understanding of modern grief theories, including Continuing Bonds Theory and the Dual Process Model of Bereavement. Pre-reading will be sent out for those participants unfamiliar with these models. Less...

Learning Objectives

Discuss grief counseling and therapy, and how to determine appropriate interventions.
Describe the foundational tools to employ the most up to date and evidence-informed grief counseling and therapy techniques.
Identify specific ‘stuck points’ common in grief, and practice tools and interventions appropriate to addresses these challenges.
Identify intersections of and disjunctions between grief responses and trauma responses, including the impact of trauma responses on the on the bereavement process and on effective grief counseling.

Target Audience

This educational activity is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, and MFT's.

Learning Levels

Introductory

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Live Interactive Webinar

12:00 PM EDT - 03:15 PM EDT

EARN 3 CE Credit Hours

About the speakers

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.

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.

Agenda

12:00-12:30 Understanding the Dynamics: Grief Counseling vs. Grief Therapy

Exploring Latest Research Insights
Navigating 'Normal' Grief: Establishing Treatment Objectives
Differentiating Coping from Genuine Adaptation in Grief Management

12:30-1:00 Strategic Intervention Insights

Harnessing Process-Based Therapy for Effective Grief Support
Spotting and Addressing Common Stuck Points and Derailers

1:00-1:30 Tools for Screening and Monitoring

1:30-1:45 Break

1:45-3:00 Tailored Strategies for Targeted Grief Support

Navigating Loss: A Comprehensive Approach
Confronting Persistent Avoidance Patterns
Understanding Emotional and Cognitive Responses
Dealing with Guilt, Regret, Anger, and Blame
Tackling Stigmatized Deaths and Building Support Systems
Addressing Relief
Rebuilding Identity and Promoting Restoration-Oriented Coping
Finding Meaning

3:00-3:15 Practical Application and Integration

Addressing Real-Life Practice Challenges
Closing Reflections and Q&A

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 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 XX 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.