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Working with Ambiguous Grief and Non-Death Loss

CE Hours 3

About this live event

Recordings and session materials will be available on your attendee dashboard for 6 months after the session. If you are interested in this workshop to earn CEs but cannot attend the live session, please consider registering for one of our self paced CE courses. View all our self paced courses by clicking "All Courses" tab at the top this page. Though much grief training focuses on bereavement loss, grief is the human response to the full spectrum of loss - death and nondeath, tangible and intangible. This workshop is designed to provide behavioral health professionals with a comprehensive understanding of the research around these types of grief while providing a practical framework and skills for supporting these losses. Throughout the workshop, participants will engage in an academic exploration of ambiguous loss and non-finite loss, examining the diverse array grief stressors from disability to relational disruptions caused by dementia, incarceration, foster care, and addiction. Drawing upon contemporary literature and clinical insights from Pauline Boss' fromattive work, attendees will develop a nuanced comprehension of the impact of ambiguous loss on individuals and family systems and the unique relational dynamics that arise in these contexts. The workshop will equip participants with evidence-based therapeutic and psychoeducational interventions tailored to mitigate the stress associated with ambiguous loss and provide comprehensive support for other non-death losses. By differentiating between various forms of non-death losses, including chronic sorrow, attendees will gain the requisite skills to identify overlapping and distinguishing features, thus enhancing their efficacy in clinical practice. Central to the workshop's objectives is an examination of the role and limitations of resilience in ambiguous loss scenarios. Through a scholarly exploration of resilience theory and empirical research, participants will discern strategies for promoting resilience in circumstances characterized by ambiguity and non-death loss, thereby enhancing their capacity to facilitate adaptive coping mechanisms among clients.

Learning Objectives

  • Define the types of ambiguous loss and assess the impact of ambiguous loss stressors on individuals and family systems.
  • Differentiate other non-death losses, including non-finite loss and chronic sorrow, defining overlapping and distinguishing features.
  • Identify therapeutic and psychoeducational interventions to ease the stress of ambiguous loss and provide individual, family, and community support for other non-death losses.
  • Discuss the role and limitations of resilience in ambiguous loss and apply evidence-informed techniques for promoting resilience in circumstances of ambiguous and non-death loss.

Learning Levels

  • Intermediate

Agenda

12:00 -12:30 Introduction and defining grief

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

12:30-1:30 Ambiguous Loss: Definition and Assessment of Impact

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

1:30-1:45 Break

1:45-2:15 Definition and Assessment of Other Non-Death Losses

  • Non-finite Loss
  • Chronic Sorrow
  • Intersections with ambiguous loss and considerations for COVID

2:15-2:45 Interventions

  • Pauline Boss’s six guidelines for building the resiliency
  • Schultz and Bruce’s psychoeducation intervention

2:45-3:05 Additional applications to specific practice

  • Substance use disorders
  • Dementia
  • Foster Care

3:05-3:15 Questions and Close

Live event Instructor(s)

  • 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 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.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

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 credits.

Before the event, you will receive an email from CE-Go with access to the virtual event. After the event, you will receive access to your evaluation and continuing education certificate via a personalized "attendee dashboard" link, hosted on the CE-Go website. This link and access to the virtual event will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event.

Upon accessing the CE-Go "attendee dashboard", 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 platform, 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".

If you have any continuing education related questions, please contact your event organizer.

Please make sure to check your spam/junk folder in case those emails get "stuck". We'd also suggest "Allowlisting" 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.

  • Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners (MBSW)

    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.

CELS Grievance

If a grievance arises pertaining to continuing education activities or processes, please contact Tyler Gibson via confidential email to tyler@celearningsystems.com as soon as possible, so that the nature of the concern may be addressed in a timely fashion.

Disability Accommodation

ADA accommodations will be made in accordance with the law; please indicate your special needs when you register by sending an email to support@ce-go.com or by calling us at 888 498 5578.

Refund

If you find that you are unable to attend an event, you may request a full refund at any time before the start of the live event. Refunds will not be issued after the start time of the live event. A recording of the event will be made available to all registrants within one week from the live event. If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact litsa@whatsyourgrief.com.

Cancellation

Should this event be cancelled for any reason, What's Your Grief will make every effort to reschedule the event. Registrants will be given the option to be enrolled in the rescheduled session or will be issued a full refund. If the event cannot be rescheduled, all participants will receive a full refund. 

Technology

1. This virtual event will be hosted via Zoom Webinar, and you may be prompted to download or upgrade your Zoom app if using a mobile device. A strong WiFi connection will be required for best quality.


2. We recommend clicking your "Join Webinar" button early and checking that your speakers are on before the event begins. Please do not worry about being seen or heard! Attendee video feeds and mics are turned off by default when entering a webinar. You will be able to ask questions via the Q&A feature.


3. Please respect that no copying, recording, or distribution of live session content is allowed. CE's are provided for the "live" sessions only. CE's will not be available for the recordings.

Working with Ambiguous Grief and Non-Death Loss
You Have Completed This course
$45.00 - $70.00
You are enrolled
  • CE Hours
    3
  • Type
    Live Interactive Webinar
  • Date
    Thu Nov 13th, 2025
  • Time
    12:00pm - 03:15pm EST

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