When a significant person dies by suicide, homicide, overdose or fatal accident, mourners often need more than the informal support systems in their lives can provide, calling for specialist intervention.  And yet many professionals struggle to meet the daunting challenges that such violent and unnatural deaths pose, not only to the survivors but also to their therapists.  This practicum session focuses to two major sites of meaning construction in such cases, focusing on the griever’s need to titrate the trauma evoked by the traumatic dying, and to rescue the relationship with the deceased from the horror and possible stigma of the circumstances of the death.

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In Part 1 of this module, we will begin by practicing a simple self-soothing technique that can help ground mourners when they begin to feel rising anxiety, before considering recent research on grief attacks, sudden and commonly overwhelming upsurges of loss-related anguish.  Learners will be introduced to the first validated measure of this complex phenomenon, detailing its 4 dimensions, the triggering places, circumstances and activities in which they occur and how grievers attempt to manage them.  We then present longitudinal research on the role of avoidance and approach coping on prolonged grief and other psychiatric outcomes in the aftermath of violent death, and the role of meaning making in mediating these effects.  Finally, we turn to a technique for mapping trigger zones that tend to engender grief attacks, and provide clear guidelines for buffering and confronting them, which we will practice and process in small groups.

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In Part 2, we discuss research documenting the high priority that long-term survivors of stigmatizing losses place on restoring the personhood of the deceased, as part of the process of reconstructing a sustainable continuing bond.  Illustrating this process in a clinical video, we then offer two tools for reaffirming the reputation of the loved one or restoring the relationship, using written, conversational and arts-assisted means.  Individual and small group practice will then prime concluding discussion about the coordination of these two dimensions of clinical work in grief therapy.

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Note:  This 3-hour CE module focuses on application of psychological assessment and/or intervention methods that have overall consistent and credible empirical support in the contemporary peer reviewed scientific literature beyond those publications and other types of communications devoted primarily to the promotion of the approach.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Review research using the Grief Attack Questionnaire, listing its 4 dimensions and implications for mastering intense surges of loss-related fear and pain;

• Summarize evidence regarding the outcomes of Approach vs. Avoidance Coping and the role of meaning in mediating future psychiatric outcomes following suicide and overdose;

• List categories of meaning making invoked by long-term survivors of stigmatizing deaths in reaffirming the personhood of the deceased; and 

• Identify two therapeutic techniques for helping survivors rescue the relationship with the deceased from the tragic circumstances of the dying.

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Note:  Completion of this program and return of the Responsive Journal satisfies 1 Practicum Module required for Certification in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction, Certification in Family-Focused Grief Therapy, or Certification in Grief Therapy for Suicide Bereavement.

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PROGRAM CONTENT

This program contains the following video segments:

1. Grief Attacks:  Assessment and Intervention (48 mins)

2. Avoidance vs. Approach:  Finding Your Way Home (60 mins)

3. Rescuing Relationship:  Guidelines for Restorative Conservations (42 mins)

4. Acrostic Eulogy:  Integrating Ambivalence (24 mins)

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COURSE PACK CONTAINS...

• A PDF copy of the presentation slides; 

• A copy of the Grief Attack Questionnaire (GAQ) with scoring instructions and permission to use it in clinical and research contexts;

• Instructions for the Walking the Labyrinth of Life and Finding Your Way Home After Loss techniques;

• Prompts for Restorative Conversations and instructions for Acrostic Eulogy; and

• The Responsive Journal that, upon completion and return, confers 1 Practicum Module required for Certification in Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction, Certification in Family-Focused Grief Therapy, or Certification in Grief Therapy for Suicide Bereavement.

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TARGET AUDIENCE

• Psychologists, social workers, counselors, art / music / expressive arts therapists, pastoral care personnel, healthcare professionals, bereavement volunteers

• To qualify for the 3 CE Credits, please kindly note that:

  • Completion of watching the entire recorded module is required to receive CE credits.  No partial credit is awarded.

  • You are required to complete a CE quiz after watching the recording.  An overall score of 75% or higher within three attempts is required to obtain CE credits.

  • The certificate of CE credits will be issued to you upon your submission of a participant evaluation form.

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INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL

• Intermediate

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Disclosure Statement

This recorded module is not supported financially by a manufacturer of any commercial product and there is no sale of any product or publication during the recorded session.  There is no known conflict of interest for this CE module or the presenting faculty.