Joy R. Samuels – 2-Day Intensive Thanatology Conference: Assessments & Interventions for Grief, Loss, & Mourning

2-Day Intensive Thanatology Conference: Assessments & Interventions for Grief, Loss, & Mourning – Joy R. Samuels

Join Dr. Joy Samuels, DMin, LPC-MHSP, NCC, and Fellow in Thanatology, for this intensive and practical recording that will further prepare you to intervene with clients who are experiencing loss in its many forms. 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.

In the second half of the recording, 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.

1. Explain relevant theories and models describing the physical and psychosocial effect of loss, grief, and mourning on the individual and family system as it relates to clinical practice.
2. Articulate how to plan and implement appropriate assessments, interventions, and strategies to help clients cope with loss and grief.
3. Differentiate potential loss events occurring throughout the lifespan, including non-death situations, and complicated bereavement to inform the clinician’s choice of treatment interventions.
4. Relate strategies for coping with dying and bereavement within the context of individual and cultural variations in session.
5. Analyze the ethnic, gender, and cultural factors that affect individual responses to loss-related situations to inform clinical treatment interventions.
6. Compare factors that influence normal and complicated reactions to dying and grief as it relates to case conceptualization.
7. Identify community and national resources to deal with death, grief, and loss for purposes of client psychoeducation.
8. Examine one’s own cognitive, affective, and behavioral reaction to death, dying, and bereavement in relation to assessment and treatment planning with clients experiencing grief and loss.
9. Develop strategies of self-awareness and self-care for grief counselors as it relates to clinical practice.
10. Determine when grief has become “complicated” and develop an appropriate treatment strategy.
11. Analyze and differentiate clinical symptoms to diagnose grief clients appropriately.
12. Evaluate developmental considerations across the lifespan to inform the clinician’s choice of treatment interventions.

Get 2-Day Intensive Thanatology Conference: Assessments & Interventions for Grief, Loss, & Mourning of author Joy R. Samuels

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.

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