Live Training
Orientation to
Meaning Reconstruction:
Book Club
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Live Online Training
The Impact of Suicide:
One Person's Story
Earn 1 Credit for Case Study Module toward
Certification in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction;
Certification in Family-Focused Grief Therapy
or Certification in Grief Therapy for Suicide Bereavement
Offered by the Portland Institute.
The loss of a loved one to suicide can be devastating, and healing sometimes requires the support of a skilled mental health clinician. In this two-module series, a grief therapist who specializes in working with suicide loss survivors and a mother who lost her young adult son to suicide will together describe their journey through her mourning process. This module describes the reactions and problems that are typical for most suicide loss survivors. These include the experience of trauma symptoms (e.g. shock, numbness, confusion, anger, reliving of the death scene), grief symptoms (e.g. intense sadness, yearning to have the loved one back), cognitive and social problems (e.g. confusion, shame, social isolation, a shut-down of communication about the suicide, scapegoating, and the unraveling of close family and friendship relationships), and spiritual and meaning-making issues (e.g. a struggle by the survivor to make sense of the death by answering the questions of “Why did they do this?”, “Who is responsible?”, “Who am I now?”). Throughout this module, Ms. Ladd will share examples from her own experiences in the months and years after her son’s suicide. She will also share both the immediate and longer term impact of the loss on her life as a parent, a spouse, an artist, and a professional educator. Time will also be allotted for questions and comments from the audience.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Describe distinctive aspects of grief after a suicide relative to other forms of violent and natural loss;
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Identify characteristic themes in making meaning of the loss and how these can evolve over time; and
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Conceptualize the case of an actual person bereaved by suicide and what needs she might address as a client in grief therapy.
Note: Attendance of the live online training session confers credit of 1 Case Study Module required for Certification in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction, Certification in Family-Focused Grief Therapy or Certification in Grief Therapy for Suicide Bereavement.
COURSE PACK PROVIDES
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A PDF copy of the presentation slides;
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Themes of suicide bereavement;
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Complications of exposure to suicide bereavement; and
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Post-traumatic growth after suicide loss.
WEBINAR TIMING
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9am-12pm, PDT: Portland, OR, which corresponds to 12-3pm in New York, 5-8pm in London, and 6-9pm in Amsterdam.
The Zoom meeting link and the module materials will be emailed to all registrants in due course.
Check out the other 3-hour module
as part of this two-module series on
Working Together:
Grief Therapy for Suicide Loss
on May 5, 2023.
GRIEF TRAINING FACULTY
Guest Presenters
John (Jack) Jordan, PhD is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where he has specialized in work with survivors of suicide and other traumatic losses for more than 45 years. He served as the Clinical Consultant for the Grief Support Services of the Samaritans in Boston, Massachusetts, and was the Professional Advisor to the Loss and Healing Council of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). He also served as the Co-Chair of the Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. In 2015, this Task force released postvention guidelines for the United States, titled Responding to Grief, Trauma, and Distress After Suicide: U.S. National Guidelines. For over 45 years, Jack has also provided training nationally and internationally for professional caregivers, and has helped to lead many healing workshops for suicide loss survivors. Jack has published over 50 clinical and research articles, chapters, and full books in the areas of the practice of grief therapy, bereavement after suicide, support group models, the integration of research and practice in thanatology, and loss in family and larger social systems. He is the co-author of four books: After suicide loss: Coping with your grief (2nd ed.) (2015, self-published); Grief after suicide: Understanding the consequences and caring for the survivors (Routledge, 2011), Devastating losses: How parents cope with the death of a child to suicide or drugs (Springer, 2012); and Attachment-informed grief therapy: The clinician’s guide to foundations and applications (Routledge, 2016).
John (Jack) Jordan, PhD
Rebecca Ladd, MA is an educator, artist, classical musician, and dog lover. She spent 30 years as a reading specialist. After the suicide death of her son in 2010, she has slowly transformed into a new person. She embraced the deep grief and the changes that have come. She is now focused on sharing her story and the tools used for the evolution. She welcomes all questions and feels she has many skills to help others both understand the trauma of violent death and the steps needed for healing. She sings classical music, creates all types of art, especially woodturning and mandala making, and she is attuned to the natural world, adores all dogs, and loves the absurd.
Rebecca Ladd, MA
