Overview of Training

Drawing on cutting-edge information from the fields of clinical psychology, thanatology, and traumatology, these practically-oriented workshops are designed as a “1+2 day” training. The first day serves as an introductory workshop on treating grief and mourning. The second two days, built upon information provided in the first day, focus specifically on enabling the 11 core strategies that comprise an integrative model of self-help after sudden, traumatic loss of a loved one. It is a more in-depth workshop and is geared to the intermediate to advanced level clinician or service provider. An individual could register for either the first introductory workshop, the two-day more advanced workshop, or both. The appeal of this format is that it allows for training of therapists of all different levels of expertise and permits exploration in greater depth for those who want more specialized training. Participants may receive Continuing Education Credits from the following organizations: National Board for Certified Counselors, South Carolina Psychological Association, and S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (pending approval). More about CEU hours.

Workshop Topics

Day One: “Therapeutic Interventions in Grief & Mourning: Responding to Uncomplicated and Complicated Bereavement”

Days Two and Three: “Enabling Eleven Core Strategies for Self-Help After Sudden, Traumatic Death”

About the Speaker:

Therese A. Rando, Ph.D., BCETS, BCBT

Dr. Rando is a clinical psychologist in Warwick, Rhode Island. She is the Clinical Director of The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Loss, which provides mental health services through psychotherapy, training, supervision, and consultation, and specializes in: loss and grief; traumatic stress; and the psychosocial care of persons with chronic, life-threatening, or terminal illness, and their loved ones.

Since 1970, Dr. Rando has consulted, conducted research, provided therapy, written, and lectured internationally in areas related to loss, grief, illness, dying, and trauma. She also has provided expert witness testimony in legal proceedings involving illness or bereavement. Current professional foci include treatment of complicated mourning, loss of a child, the interface between posttraumatic stress and grief, anticipatory mourning, specialized intervention techniques in the treatment of traumatic bereavement, and the integration of EMDR into intervention with grief and mourning.

Dr. Rando holds a doctoral degree in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island and has received advanced training in psychotherapy and in medical consultation-liaison psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University Medical School and University Hospitals of Cleveland. A former consultant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Hospice Education Program for Nurses, she developed its program for training hospice nurses to cope with loss, grief, and terminal illness. Her current research interests focus on the operations and courses of anticipatory and postdeath mourning; development of a short-term treatment protocol for survivors of traumatic loss; construction of a self-help program for coping with the sudden death of a loved one (more information on newest book); and integrating EMDR with group intervention for traumatic loss survivors. More about Dr. Rando.

Workshop Details

The first day of this 1+2 day, practically-oriented workshop for clinicians focuses on therapeutic strategies and intervention techniques for facilitating uncomplicated grief and mourning, and responding therapeutically when it becomes complicated. While most examples will pertain to the death of a loved one, the workshop will be of interest to those who work with individuals experiencing loss of any kind: physical (e.g., amputation, chronic illness, theft, assault) or psychosocial (e.g., divorce, loss of a dream, infertility, downsizing).

The second two days of the workshop integrate two realities for professional counselors and support providers working with those bereaved from accident, disaster, suicide, homicide (including terrorism and war), or acute natural death (from medical events, such as heart attack or stroke, or from acute illness, such as bacterial meningitis or bird flu). First, sudden, traumatic death of a loved one poses the mourner with challenges creating vastly different experiences and demands than if the death had been anticipated and natural. Second, contemporary realities of service delivery problems--such as time constraints, geographical impediments, scarcity of resources, inability to access care, social stigma, insurance limitations, economic prohibitions, and separation from the military--mean that mourners might be unable to avail themselves of professional treatment (often unable to receive the length or depth of treatment desired), mutual support groups, and/or educational opportunities. The purpose of the workshop is to present an integrative model of self-help following traumatic bereavement. Eleven core areas of intervention created by sudden, traumatic death are identified and strategies are outlined for addressing them. Emphasis is placed on helping attendees enable mourners to work with these core issues independently of treatment. The workshop is also suitable for those wanting essential intervention strategies that can be incorporated into ongoing treatment with traumatized mourners.

Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Day One:

• Differentiate between grief and mourning and their clinical implications
• Identify the six “R” processes of mourning
  
• Define complicated mourning and delineate its two attempts, four forms, and seven high-risk factors
  
• Discuss why sudden death is traumatic and distinct from anticipated death, and identify at least five challenges it presents
  
• Identify at least seven generic guidelines for the treatment of complicated mourning
  
• Construct a Comprehensive Bereavement Treatment Package
  
• Outline the Standard Treatment Protocol for Intervention in Complicated Mourning

Days Two and Three:

• Explain the twin tasks in coping with traumatic loss--trauma mastery and loss accommodation
• List 11 core areas of intervention demanded after sudden death
• Outline the protocol for developing a self-help plan for traumatic bereavement
• Challenge distorted thinking about the loss
• Identify the steps to processing feelings constructively
• Describe at least four essential courses of action to promote healthy coping
• Delineate the process for addressing unfinished business and unanswered questions
• Specify at least two ways to manage anxiety in each of the four areas (physiologically, psychologically, socially, and behaviorally)
• List at least three self-help interventions for sudden death repercussions of avoidance, re-experiencing, and guilt
• Delineate at least three unique issues associated with each type of traumatic death
• Explain the usefulness of personal bereavement rituals
• List at least two strategies for navigating the outside world in terms of social relationships and work
• Discuss self-help strategies associated with the four avenues for reconstructing personal meaning

Download "Responding to Bereavement: Foundational and Advanced Techniques for Grief and Mourning " brochure

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