Grief as a Daily Practice: Tools to Educate and Support in Times of Profound Loss

If loss is an inevitable part of life, why is so little formal education offered to support grievers? Though we understand that everyone will eventually experience profound loss, Western culture and clinical training programs often leave grievers and those supporting them without essential tools for navigating the complex physical, emotional, and relational symptoms that are so common in grief.

Taught by a trauma-trained psychotherapist who specializes in grief and loss, this course addresses this critical gap in our understanding. By exploring how we grieve in our bodies, how grief manifests most commonly, and the many ways in which grief is minimized and missed by Western medicine, this course offers a framework to help grievers (and those supporting them) answer the question so many ask after profound loss —“What am I supposed to do now?”

This workshop will outline the core concepts of the Grief Mentor Method™,  a flexible framework that considers both the skills and experiences of the supporter (clinician) and the griever, enabling clinicians to empower grievers to develop agency and intentional grief practices during a time of rapid (and often unwanted) change.

Using a scientific approach of hypothesizing, testing, and adapting, the approach encourages bereaved individuals to deepen trust in their instincts, integrate loss, and anticipate and tolerate aspects of setbacks while also pursuing hope for finding practices to support themselves as grievers. Grounded in both qualitative experience and a host of scientific research, this course will incorporate practices grounded in neuroscience, bioscience, integrative nutrition, trauma and grief theories, and spiritual and cultural traditions, offering a holistic and compassionate approach to understanding and supporting grievers.

Participants will be encouraged to engage with the material as inquisitive learners and helping professionals (as well as humans) who have and will experience grief.  Each day’s course work will include an educational lecture and a short experiential exercise which will illustrate the process we use with clients. While this course will cover clinical approaches to working directly with grieving individuals, the outlined approach will also benefit organizational leaders, educators, clergy, managers, and anyone who finds themselves supporting others (and themselves) through loss.