Counseling Grief Clients: Practical Interventions from New Theoretical Insights

• Articulate current models for conceptualizing grief
• Identify five predictors of grief severity
• Apply a basic, adaptable approach to grief counseling
• Demonstrate three new interventions to use with bereaved clients
• Determine when grief has become "complicated" and outline a suitable treatment strategy
• Diagnose grief clients appropriately using DSM-5®
• Recognize the importance of self-awareness and self-care for grief counselors

Clinicians often struggle to develop an effective approach to counseling grief clients, due to the uniqueness of each individual's grief. The last 10-15 years have seen an explosion of new research in the field and many new studies have turned what we thought we knew on its head. Another important and very practical issue involves diagnosis, as DSM-5® revisions affect the most commonly applied diagnoses for grief clients.
Explore this new research, including up-to-date information about appropriate diagnosis of grief clients in DSM-5®, ideas for how to assess grief severity and related constructs, and clarification about what is meant by "complicated grief" with Licensed Psychologist and Certified Thanatologist, Dr. Beth Eckerd. Review the most commonly used current models for understanding grief and leave with tools, including 20 interventions, to more confidently assist clients in navigating the adaptive, yet confusing and difficult, grief process. The seminar will end with a focus on self-care, discussing how to appropriately manage and care for ourselves in this demanding, yet fulfilling, work.