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
Dr Carolyn Ng, PsyD, FT, MMSAC, RegCLR will also be a co-trainer for this workshop. You may read more about her trainer profile here.
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 Robert A. Neimeyer
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, and maintains an active consulting and coaching practice. He also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition (www.portlandinstitute.org), which provides online training internationally in grief therapy. Neimeyer has published 33 books, including the Handbook of Grief Therapies and New Techniques of Grief Therapy: Bereavement and Beyond, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Studies. The author of over 600 articles and book chapters and a frequent workshop presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process. Neimeyer served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his scholarly contributions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both ADEC and the International Network on Personal Meaning
Testimonials
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