About the Course
Death may end a life, but not necessarily a relationship. Drawing on attachment-informed and Two-Track models of bereavement, we will begin by considering grieving as a process of reconstructing rather than relinquishing our continuing bonds with those who have died. But at times both the circumstances of the death and the nature of the relationship in their shared lives can pose profound challenges for survivors in establishing a sustainable bond to the deceased, creating impasses in doing so that can become the focus of grief therapy. Thus, we will discuss research on both circumstantial factors (e.g., sudden or violent death, inability to tend to the loved one at the end of life) and relational complications (unresolved issues between the living and dead) that characteristically leave many questions unanswered, much that is unsaid, and multiple longstanding concerns unaddressed. To redress these relational complications, we will introduce a scale for identifying complex relational histories that need to be processed, as well as several arts-assisted techniques to review and revise the character of the bond with the deceased. In addition, through actual therapy recordings, we will demonstrate how symbolic conversations in both correspondence and chair work formats can help clients repair the relationship with someone who they typically have loved, even if ambivalently, and lost before setting things right.
Course Outline:
Understanding grief and loss through an attachment lens
Differentiation between continuing bond and maladaptive bondage
Examining who the deceased was through Acrostic Eulogy
Crafting of Our Relationship Tree to review the relationship history
Use of Rückenfigur to facilitate access to the Back Story of a difficult relationship
Implementation of the Unfinished Business in Bereavement Scale for assessing residual conflicts and disappointments in the relationship
Practice of correspondence with the deceased and possible extensions
Architecture and choreography of chair work to process the unfinished business
Course Objectives
Describe the concept of continuing bonds and its role in adaptation to bereavement;
Summarize research on sudden and traumatic bereavement and its relation to both unfinished business with the deceased and intense or prolonged grief symptomatology; and
Practice various meaning-focused techniques to renegotiate the terms of attachment with the deceased and bridge to relational reconstruction.
Who Should Attend
All counsellors, healthcare workers, social workers, psychologists, art / music / expressive arts therapists, school personnel, pastoral staff, and people involved in the helping professions.
Award
Participants who meet 75% class attendance will be awarded a Certificate of Completion by Portland Institute for Loss and Transition & Academy of Human Development.
For certification enquiries, please email carolyn@portlandinstitute.org
Your Trainer
Dr Carolyn Ng
Dr Carolyn Ng, PsyD, FT, MMSAC, RegCLR maintains a private practice, Anchorage for Loss and Transition (for more information, please visit: www.anchorage-for-loss.org). She also serves as Associate Director and Faculty with the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition in Portland, OR, United States. Previously, she was a Principal Counsellor with the Children’s Cancer Foundation in Singapore, specialising in cancer-related palliative care and bereavement counselling support. She is a registered counsellor, master clinical member and approved clinical supervisor with the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC). She is also a Fellow in Thanatology (FT) registered with the Association of Death Education and Counselling (ADEC), USA; as well as a consultant to a cancer support and bereavement ministry in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
She is certified in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and Narrative Therapy as well.
Carolyn first graduated with Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales, Australia, majoring in psychology, followed by Master of Social Science (Counselling) from the Edith Cowan University, Australia and a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry (Conflict Management) from the Trinity Theological Seminary, USA. She subsequently completed her doctoral training in psychology with the California Southern University, USA. She is also trained in the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, USA, community crisis response by the National Organisation for Victim Assistance (NOVA), USA, as well as Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) by LivingWorks, Canada. She is a trained end-of-life doula and a certified Advanced Care Planning facilitator as well.
Her wide counselling experiences cover youth delinquency issues, marital issues, family violence issues, mental health issues, incarceration issues, grief and loss issues, and crisis interventions. She has varied supervisory experiences with such helping professionals as counsellors, social workers and therapists in diverse settings as well. She also conducts training workshops and presents on various topics in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, as invited by different organizations both in Singapore and other countries like Malaysia, Taiwan, Bhutan, Australia and United States over the years.
Testimonials
To Be Updated
To Be Updated
To Be Updated
