Join Dr. Joy Samuels, DMin, LPC-MHSP, NCC, and Fellow in Thanatology, for this intensive and practical two-day conference that will further prepare you to intervene with clients who are experiencing loss in its many forms.  On day one, Dr. Samuels will utilize specific case studies to bring grief, loss, and mourning theory to the practical level of daily practice. She will specifically look at the intersection of personality, temperament, and grief responses from an individual and family systems perspective. At the end of day one’s instruction, you are invited to stay for a unique opportunity to network with other professionals who serve clients experiencing grief. Dr. Samuels, will lead participants in a discussion of assessments and interventions that they have found clinically effective (and ineffective) in the treatment of grief and loss reactions.

On day two, grief reactions are addressed, and practical assessment and intervention strategies are identified to assist the person who is grieving cope with the loss. What constitutes ‘persistent complex bereavement disorder’ will be reviewed, as well as cultural responses and rituals in regard to the grieving process. Participants will increase their own self-awareness as to their loss experiences and grieving mechanisms and will further define the boundaries of their professional roles. Participants will leave with specific client- and family-centered interventions that can be used in practice. 

Course Content:

DAY ONE: GRIEF, LOSS, AND MOURNING

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FAMILY! HOW FAMILY SYSTEMS IMPACT GRIEF REACTIONS AND WHY IT MATTERS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

• Family life cycle
• Identifying effective communication patterns to promote healthy boundaries
• Impact of illness trajectory
• Grief styles
  • Epigenetics-do we inherit our grief reactions from our grandparents?
  • Personality
  • Temperament
• Normative grief responses
• Impact of type of loss
• Family systems theory
• Gender issues
• Assessment of risk factors for complicated/prolonged grief
• Determining appropriateness of specific interventions
• Case Studies

LIFE SPAN

• Developmental considerations and milestones related to loss reactions
  • Children
  • Adolescents
  • Early Adulthood
  • Middle Adulthood
  • Later Adulthood
  • Parental Loss
  • Child Loss
  • Widowhood
• Grief counseling throughout the lifespan
• Grief therapy interventions related to lifespan

CULTURAL/SOCIALIZATION

• Loss, Grief, and Mourning
  • Factors affecting experience of and expression of grief
  • Impact on mourning practices
  • Death anxiety

• Assessing and intervening with cultural competence
  • Advanced care planning
  • Communication
  • Meaning of death

EXCHANGE OF IDEAS LED BY DR. SAMUELS:

Network with other professionals to share interventions and assessments that have proven effective (and not effective) with clients who are dealing with a loss.

DAY 2: ASSESSMENTS, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT PLANNING, AND INTERVENTIONS

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES ON ASSESSMENTS AND INTERVENTIONS

• Current assessment models
• Current therapeutic strategies
• Controversy about efficacy of interventions
• Complicated grief
• Gender considerations
• Pathologizing of grief

RESOURCES AND RESEARCH

• Empirical research on current theories
• Research on effectiveness of  assessments and interventions
• Practical resources for clinicians

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

• Which assessments are within your scope of practice?
• Communication
• Professional liability and limitations
• Determining appropriate interventions in concert with evidence and client characteristics
• Professional responsibilities