Full Course Description
Introduction: A Human Centered Approach to Grief Therapy
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 1 | The Complex Realities of Grief
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 2 | Easing Suffering Without Erasing Pain
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 3 | Pathologizing Grieving and Ethics of Grief Care
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 4 | Finding Spaces Where Pain Can Be Held
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 5 | When Joy Feels Wrong
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 6 | Anger, Betrayal and the Protective Power of Rage
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Module 7 | Compartmentalization and the Unexpected Benefits of Emotional Distance
For too long, grief has been approached as a problem to be solved – and the tools designed to “fix” it often cause more harm than good. Megan Devine has changed all of that with her revolutionary approach that meets grieving clients exactly where they are and provides practical, empathic guidance to help them navigate the day-to-day demands of life in the midst of grief. And now, you can learn her powerful approach by watching her work with real, grieving individuals. This is the first time Megan has shared her session video – and you get a front row seat for the action so you can discover exactly how to use this transformative approach with your own clients.
Program Information
Target Audience
- Counselors
- Social Workers
- Psychologists
- Psychotherapists
- Therapists
- Marriage & Family Therapists
- Addiction Counselors
- Case Managers
- Physicians
- Other Mental Health Professionals
Objectives
- Summarize the importance of understanding the unique terminology clients use to describe their grief experiences.
- Identify key clinical and emotional considerations when discussing violent loss with clients.
- Apply techniques to help clients manage intrusive thoughts and distressing images related to grief.
- Evaluate clinical interventions that may unintentionally hinder a client’s grieving process.
- Analyze the potential consequences of pathologizing grief in clinical settings.
- Articulate the benefits and limitations of pharmacological interventions grieving clients.
- Identify essential components for facilitating a safe and effective grief support group.
- Implement strategies to recognize and manage personal grief-related triggers during clinical sessions.
- Demonstrate effective therapeutic responses to client expressions of rage during grief.
- Support clients in navigating shifts in interpersonal relationships following a significant loss.
- Evaluate the psychological impact of emotional compartmentalization during the grieving process.
Outline
Module 1: The Complex Realities of Grief
- Where to begin with grief therapy
- Surviving grief versus recovering from grief
- Rebuilding safety and trust after traumatic loss
- The importance of defining terms
Module 2. Easing Suffering Without Erasing Pain
- Working with grief in online settings
- Dealing with sticky images and intrusive thoughts
- How to ease suffering without erasing it
- Interventions to avoid: what not to do in grief therapy
- The real timeline of grief
Module 3. Pathologizing Grieving and Ethics of Grief Care
- The pathologization of grief
- The costs of medicating grief
- How to be a grief advocate
- Helping clients advocate for themselves
- Aligning with your client’s timeline and setting realistic goals
- Working with suicidality in grief
Module 4. Finding Space Where Pain Can Be Held
- Benefits of grief groups
- Guidelines for facilitating a grief group
- Managing graphic details shared within groups
- Managing our own losses, emotions, and boundaries in groups
- The urge to protect others: client and therapist perspectives
Module 5. When Joy Feels Wrong
- Moving on after loss: what does it really mean?
- Navigating relationships after loss
- Coping with secondary losses
- Letting go of the replacement model
Module 6. Anger, Betrayal and the Protective Power of Rage
- Anger and betrayal after loss
- The benefits of anger and rage
- Anger as advocacy
- Coping with death of an abuser
- Spotting the subtle forms of grief
- Cost-benefit analysis as a decision-making tool
Module 7. Compartmentalization and the Unexpected Benefits of Emotional Distance
- Navigating guilt and shame
- Flat affect vs. not feeling: understanding emotional accommodation
- Using compartmentalization as an emotion regulation skill
- Ways of listening to our clients on multiple levels
- Grieving within systems- how politics impact grief
- Subtle ways therapists try to erase pain
Copyright :
04/17/2025
Grief on the Job
Working with clients in pain is never easy. The last several years have brought more pain and suffering to your practices than ever before, but let’s face it - you’re burned out, overwhelmed, and feel under-supported. This session with acclaimed grief expert Megan Devine will give you the tools you need to manage the impacts of emotional overwhelm, set boundaries and handle grief on the job as well as because of it.
Program Information
Objectives
- Investigate the ethical aspects and potential positive and negative clinical impacts of self-disclosure as it relates to clinical practice.
- Develop an action plan for managing the impact of emotional overwhelm and repetition in a clinical setting.
- Determine personal and professional boundaries that help the clinician navigate personal and professional losses to alleviate symptoms of grief.
Outline
Repeated exposure to loss
- Strategies for handling overwhelm, repetition, and frustration
Creating and maintaining boundaries
- Boundary setting with clients in-session
- How to set boundaries with people outside your office
Systemic failure and the limits of infrastructure
- How the system doesn’t meet our human needs
- Tools for emotional work
Friction with the outside world
- Building support with people who don’t (or won’t) understand
The ethics of self-disclosure
- Guidelines
- Handling missteps
- Risks and limitations
Target Audience
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Counselors
- Social Workers
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Addiction Counselors
- Nurses
- Physicians
- Other Mental Health Professionals
Copyright :
04/26/2024
Non-Death Losses: How the Grief We Don’t Call Grief Applies to Every Client
Most people think grief only relates to death. As such, so many discount and judge their loss experiences as “no big deal.” But now more than ever clinicians are discovering that the grief inherent in daily life has a huge impact on our clients, regardless of why they’re seeking support or treatment. In this session, Megan will show you how to recognize grief unrelated to death, change the culture about how we view these non-death losses and give you clinical solutions for improving support and connection.
Program Information
Objectives
- Differentiate the features and corresponding clinical impacts of grief that occurs in non-death losses from grief that occurs in death-related losses.
- Develop a case conceptualization that accounts for the impacts of everyday stressors and non-death losses.
- Apply interventions for grief support in non-death loss scenarios.
Outline
- Grief beyond death: recognizing grief unrelated to death
- Moral distress, chronic illness, everyday stressors and more
- Changing the culture: how all clinical issues are grief issues
- Clinical responses to non-death losses, interactions and experiences
Target Audience
- Counselors
- Marriage & Family Therapists
- Nurses
- Nurse Practioners
- Psychologists
- Social Workers
- Other Mental Health Professions
Copyright :
04/13/2023
Q&A Call with Megan Devine - Grief Therapy in Action
Copyright :
02/11/2026