Grief Counseling and Treatment in a Pandemic of Loss

Claire Bidwell Smith

Losing someone we love thrusts us into a vulnerable place. It forces us to confront our mortality and life’s unpredictability...causing fear and anxiety to surface in profound and unexpected ways.

Join grief expert and acclaimed bestselling author Claire Bidwell-Smith to explore this link between grief and anxiety.

Discover how you can help your clients manage their anxiety... Process their grief on a deeper level and unpack their fears about mortality.

Click here for information about Claire Bidwell Smith.

Dr. Joy Samuels

During the pandemic we’ve all experienced many losses. Not just death, but our collective loss of security, identity, social connection, and normalcy...

Which makes us feel like we’ve been thrust into a new world where nothing makes sense.

Complicating the matter is that we often don’t recognize and mourn these abstract and secondary losses... Which prolongs suffering and confusion.

Join Dr. Joy Samuels as she gives you tools and strategies to equip clients to face these losses so they can move forward when their expectations and assumptions about the world have been shattered.

Click here for information about Joy R. Samuels.

Erica H. Sirrine, Ph.D., LCSW, FT

When a loved one faces a terminal illness, many start grieving before they pass. They know what’s coming.

But since the pandemic began your clients are dealing with the unknown. They can’t predict who will contract COVID... Or what will happen if they do.

They’ve been unsure what will happen in many areas of their lives, leaving them feeling powerless to control what’s coming... Anticipating it with dread.

This is why we need to know how to work with anticipatory grief. So we can help clients process and cope even in the most trying times.

Join Dr. Erica Sirrine to get practical strategies for supporting clients and families facing illness or impending death of a loved one.

Erica H. Sirrine, Ph.D., LCSW, FT

In the past year families have confronted death on a scale not seen in generations.

And children are often affected most intensely following the loss of a family member. Trauma, pain, and confusion replace safety and security.

Their understanding of death—and responses to the grief that follows—are influenced by their developmental level. Which makes their treatment much different from that of an adult.

Join Dr. Erica Sirrine for this powerful session to better understand the unique nature of grief in children and adolescents. Get developmentally appropriate treatment strategies to help these vulnerable clients find hope and healing.

Click here for information about Erica H Sirrine.

Alissa Drescher, LPC, FT, GC-C, MA

We’ve all changed the way we work in the last year. And while we’re now familiar with the technology and rules around telehealth, we still want to do better for our clients. 

This session will help you to up your game when working remotely with grieving clients!

Join grief expert and Fellow in Thanatology Alissa Drescher to get the creative tools and effective online resources to master grief work via video conferencing. Build your “webside” manner and make your treatment as impactful as possible when working virtually!

Click here for information about Alissa Drescher.

David Kessler

The pandemic has disrupted our social connections, routine, and sense of security. This chaos makes it difficult to fully acknowledge the losses in our lives.

But unattended grief can harm our physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual health.

Join David Kessler, one of the world’s foremost experts on healing and loss, as he shares the tips and interventions he uses to support healthy grieving, even in unprecedented times.

Click here for information about David Kessler.

J. Eric Gentry, PhD, LMHC, DAAETS, FAAETS

Working with grieving and traumatized clients means engaging with stories of loss and pain... It means bearing at least some of the emotional weight of their suffering.

And these days isolation, fear, and uncertainty adds to the load. If left unchecked, the mental and emotional impact of your work can make you feel like you’re drowning in the suffering of others.

This is Compassion Fatigue. And it’s a threat to our wellbeing and our ability to stay on the job.

Join Compassion Fatigue expert Dr. Eric Gentry to receive a research-backed pathway that both resolves and prevents the harmful effects of work-related stress. Not only that, but you’ll discover how to enhance resilience and professional quality of life.

J. Eric Gentry, PhD, LMHC, DAAETS, FAAETS

As a clinician in the age of COVID-19, it’s likely you’ll work with grieving survivors who’ve lost a loved one in a traumatic way.

Without intervention designed to address both grief and trauma, the loss could lead to complicated bereavement and PTSD. Are you prepared to handle that?

Dr. Eric Gentry is an expert in the treatment of trauma. In this crucial session, he’ll share the interventions and skills he uses to address grief and trauma together, lessen posttraumatic stress symptoms, and enhance client functioning.

Click here for information about J. Eric Gentry.

Alesia Alexander, LCSW, CT

Many factors influence our clients’ grief journeys. Race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age, economics, inequalities, and power differentials... Just to name a few.

Without understanding the diverse dynamics of our clients’ experiences, we may fail to offer support that is ethical, relevant, and culturally sensitive to their needs.

This thought-provoking and honest presentation will offer a new lens through which to view your grief work with diverse and underserved populations.

Discover a socially just framework you can use to reach across divides and make healing connections with clients of all backgrounds.

Click here for information about Alesia Alexander.

Rita A. Schulte, LPC

Suicide survivors don’t come to you because they’re interested in growth. They don’t want to explore new possibilities. They just want to relieve the pain, ease the misery, and make sense of the death. But there’s no life in only asking why. On many levels, there will be no closure.

As clinicians, we can’t help survivors change unless we challenge them to step out and take risks. It’s critical to tap into the client’s potential for resiliency, open them to new possibilities, and walk with them along the path to post-traumatic growth.

Join Rita Schulte, licensed professional counsellor, radio host, author, and suicide survivor to get the skills and strategies you need to transition grieving clients who’ve lost loved ones to suicide from “why?” to “what’s next?”

Click here for information about Rita Schulte.