Full Course Description

Unit 1 | Foundations of Grief Assessment and Intervention

Copyright : 03/20/2025

Unit 2 | Advanced Grief Treatment, Group Work and Ethical Practice

Your clients have spent years besieged by death, loss and uncertainty.

For many there will be no “return to normal” – driving more grieving clients than ever before into the care of professionals.

But for far too long graduate school grief education has neglected to cover assessment, complex grief, non-death grief and clinical interventions. The result? Therapists like you often feel unprepared to provide grief-related services.

It’s time to change all that.

Dr. Christina Zampitella is a clinical psychologist and recognized grief expert who’s trained thousands of professionals on grief work. In this all NEW live 2-day certification training she’ll show you how you can confidently counsel and treat grieving clients and help them integrate loss into their lives.

Complete evidence-based tools, proven strategies you can use right away, and case studies that make the work understandable, relevant and attainable, you’ll leave able to:

Tailor clinical interventions to the uniqueness of each client’s grief
Counsel and treat clients who experienced different types of losses
Build clients’ resilience and help them make meaning
Reduce symptoms of complicated grief
Walk with clients on the path toward post-traumatic growth
And much more!

Don’t wait. The grief pandemic is one of the greatest mental health crises of our time and clients need your help now.

Program Information

Objectives

Assess for trauma, depression, substance use and anxiety in grieving clients.
Utilize two assessment measures for gathering grief responses.
Distinguish how the experiences created by different types of loss impact assessment and treatment planning.
Evaluate contemporary models of bereavement as they relate to case conceptualization for grief therapy.
Assess the boundaries of professional competence in grief work and know when to refer out.
Investigate factors that can influence the grief process including the type of loss and support system.
Use the DSM-5 to diagnose/identify Prolonged Grief Disorder.
Employ emotional regulation techniques to help calm clients who’ve experienced a traumatic loss.
Implement a bereavement plan of care for identified Prolonged Grief Disorder.
Use CBT techniques to help bereaved clients manage guilt, blame and other maladaptive cognitions following loss.
Apply narrative approaches to help clients construct meaning following loss.
Utilize mindfulness interventions to reduce anxiety symptoms in clients with grief.
Evaluate the clinical implications of cultural beliefs surrounding mourning and continuing relationships with the deceased.
Utilize best practices to structure and facilitate grief support or treatment groups.
Develop strategies for self-care when working with grieving clients.
Analyze continuing attachment bonds and their relevance to clinical practice with bereaved clients across the lifespan.

Outline

DAY 1

Assessment of Grieving Clients:
Uncover Grief Intensity, Depression, Substance Use and Suicidal Ideation

Grief intensity scale
Hogan grief reaction checklist
Assessment to uncover trauma, depression, substance use and anxiety
QPR and S-SSRS to assess for suicidal ideation or substance use
Isolation, sleep and nutrition concerns for grieving clients

Assessment and Treatment of Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder

How to diagnose using the DSM-5
Assessment resources
Complicated Grief Treatment Model
Meaning Reconstruction

Grief Therapy and Counseling in Action:
Clinical Tools and Treatment Approaches to Facilitate Healthy Grieving

Grief counseling vs. grief treatment – what’s the difference?
CBT techniques for guilt, blame and other maladaptive cognitions following loss
Mindfulness interventions for anticipatory grief and anxiety symptoms
Narrative approaches to process grief by putting words to the pain
Exercises to help clients better face uncertainty
Creative tools to support emotional regulation and expression
Tools to manage regret and facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation
Alternative ways to honor deceased loved ones and find closure
How to make virtual sessions as effective as in-person ones

Non-Death and Abstract Losses:
How to Effectively Work with Clients Who’ve Experienced “Living Losses”

Abstract losses – how to work with loss of connection, routine, normalcy and identity
Divorce
Substance use
Natural disasters
Life-limiting and mental illness
Developmental disabilities
Military or incarceration
Symbolic Losses

DAY 2

The Traumatic Grief Treatment Toolkit:
Build Clients’ Resiliency and Move Them Toward Post-Traumatic Growth

Assess for PTSD symptoms
Emotional regulation techniques for clients who’ve had a traumatic loss
DBT techniques to decrease avoidance and manage suicidal ideation
CBT coping skills for traumatic memories and rumination
Clinical strategies to reduce fear responses
How to work with the unique challenges of suicide survivors
Exercises to help clients overcome guilt and shame
Employing a strengths-based approach to build resiliency

The Clinician’s Guide to Grief and Loss Groups:
How to Successfully Structure and Facilitate Grief Support or Treatment Groups

Differences between
- Psychoeducational groups or therapeutic process groups
- Peer or clinician led groups
- Loss-specific or general grief groups
- Open and closed groups
Participant screening
Keys to effective facilitation
Program evaluation

Grief Work with Clients of Diverse Race, Backgrounds, Cultures and Beliefs

How culture impacts length of mourning and continuing relationships with the deceased
Spiritual impacts on grief
How inequalities in race, gender, sexual orientation and age impact support of grief and loss
Personal assessment activity
Cultural competence vs. culturally and difference intentioned/aware practice
Cultural & difference-focused engagement ideas and strategies

Ethical Considerations in Grief Counseling and Treatment

Boundaries of professional competence
Research and treatment risks
Working with the terminally ill, minors, families and end-of-life decisions
Vicarious trauma, compassion, fatigue and self-care

Target Audience

Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Counselors
Addiction Counselors
Case Managers
Social Workers
Pastoral Counselors
Chaplains/Clergy
Funeral Directors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Mental Health Nurses
Nursing Home Administrators
Thanatologists
Physicians
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/20/2025

Unit 3 | Treating Anxious Grief

When a client presents with anxiety, does your clinical compass point to grief?

While we may expect a client to feel sadness, pain, and hurt following a loss, we do not always expect them to feel anxiety—those pervasive feelings of dread, fear, panic, agitation, and uncertainty that often occur alongside unwanted, alarming, and unpredictable physical symptoms.

From a clinical perspective, the connection between anxiety and grief makes sense. Loss reminds us of our inability to control the future, underscores our human vulnerability, and leaves us in a loop of “what ifs” – three hallmarks of anxiety. Yet, clients and clinicians alike are only just beginning to understand the many ways that anxiety and grief are connected—and now you can too.

Watch grief expert, clinician, and acclaimed best-selling author Claire Bidwell Smith to learn strategies for working with what is often called the “missing stage” of grief: anxiety. Discover how you can help your clients navigate this often-overlooked facet of loss, process their grief on a deeper level, unpack their fears about mortality, and better bear vulnerability. 

Purchase today!

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze the connection between grief and anxiety and the implications for grief treatment.
Explore the clinical importance of targeting anxiety to improve treatment outcomes.
Investigate how techniques that help clients make amends with lost loved ones can help them overcome guilt-driven anxiety.

Outline

What is Anxious Grief?

Drawing connection between anxiety and grief
When is anxiety grief-related?
Anxiety, grief, and anxious grief
The five stages of grief plus the missing one: anxiety
How long does anxious grief last?

Techniques for Addressing Clients’ Grief-Related Anxiety

Assessment and identification of anxious grief
Recognizing masked anxiety symptoms
Strategies to normalize anxiety and panic
Helping clients get out from underneath their anxious grief:
- Rewriting the story of loss
- Understanding the fallacy of worry
- Making amends to release guilt-driven anxiety
- Taking inventory
- The gift (and power) of writing
- Mindfulness for retraining the anxious brain
- Meaning-making and connection

Target Audience

Counselors 
Social Workers 
Art Therapists
Marriage and Family Therapists 
Psychologists 
Psychiatrists 
School Counselors 
School Psychologists 
School Social Workers 
Case Managers 
Addiction Counselors 
Pastoral Counselors 
Chaplains/Clergy 
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners 
Mental Health Nurses 
Thanatologists 
Death Doulas

Copyright : 01/31/2024

AI, Grief and the Ethics of Digital Afterlifes

Your clients are already using AI to talk to the dead. A widow uploads years of text messages and suddenly her husband is "texting" her again. A son uses voice synthesis to hear his late mother say things she never said.

Some find profound comfort. Others find themselves unable to move forward. But if you’re like most therapists you have no framework for what to do when a client says, "I've been talking to my mom. She died two years ago."

Join clinician, ethics expert and AI researcher Dr. Michael Jones as he equips you to navigate AI-mediated grief through the lens of professional ethics. PLUS Megan Devine will join Dr. Jones for a special conversation about the future of AI in grief.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify at least three categories of AI grief technologies and describe their psychological mechanisms related to continuing bonds.
Applying the ethical principal of prioritizing client welfare, evaluate the potential benefits (emotional scaffolding, symbolic continuity) and risks (emotional dependency, complicated grief) of AI grief bots.
Apply ethical decision-making frameworks when working with clients who engage with AI grief technologies, including considerations of informed consent, client autonomy, and counselor competence.

Outline

When clients disclose AI-mediated contact with the deceased
Grief bots, voice clones, and digital avatars
Current technologies and emerging developments
How clients access and use these tools outside of clinical settings
Continuing bonds theory: Theoretical grounding for digital connection
Ethical frameworks for AI and grief
Technology-assisted services and competence requirements
Accountability, client welfare, and competency
Informed consent, confidentiality, and clinical oversight
Benefits and risks of AI-mediated grief
Emotional scaffolding, symbolic continuity, and adaptive grief support
Emotional dependency, avoidance behaviors, and complicated grief risk
Autonomy, consent, privacy, and dignity of the deceased
Assessment, intervention, and professional boundaries
Red flags and indicators for clinical concern
Holding space without judgment while maintaining ethical oversight
Emerging research and the limits of current knowledge

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 04/16/2026

A Somatic Approach to Grief

Bereaved individuals find their grief overwhelmingly painful and difficult to modulate, risking either avoidance or preoccupation with the loss. The ability to befriend the emotional and physical impact of grief allows grieving to achieve its purpose of moving through the body until acceptance is achieved. Talking about a loss can be daunting. As clients talk about their loved one, it often results in increased emotional pain or re-living the loss over and over again. They can get stuck in bargaining or in depression rather than moving through the process of grieving.

A somatic approach combines mindfulness with attention to grief’s physical effects. Mindful attention to the waves of grief that suddenly come up helps to slow down the emotions so that clients can be in relationship to them. Following the somatic sensations connected to these waves allows clients to experience the grief coming up and then setting each time, bringing hope that there will be healing.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify client barriers to grieving (Gentsch & Kuehn, 2022).
Utilize 2 mindfulness-based interventions (Price & Wang, 2021; Neff, 2022).
Choose somatic interventions that bring relief or decrease emotional pain (Balban et al, 2023; Eisma & Stroebe, 2021).

Outline

Clinical barriers to grieving
Mindfulness-based interventions for grief
Somatic interventions for releasing emotional pain
Risks and limitations of the research

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 04/15/2026

Estrangement and Grief

Estrangement – from parents, adult children, siblings, or extended family – is one of the most complex and misunderstood forms of grief clients experience. Often invisible and socially unacknowledged, estrangement can leave individuals grieving someone who is still alive, while simultaneously managing shame, self-doubt, loyalty conflicts, and chronic uncertainty.

Join therapist and best-selling author Claire Bidwell Smith as she draws on nearly two decades of grief-focused clinical work to explore estrangement as a form of ambiguous and disenfranchised loss. This training will help clinicians understand the emotional, relational, and identity-level impacts of estrangement, recognize why these losses often remain unresolved, and apply practical, compassionate interventions to support clients navigating estrangement with greater clarity, self-trust, and emotional integration.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze estrangement as a form of ambiguous and disenfranchised grief and identify its clinical implications for long-term emotional processing.
Recognize common emotional patterns in estranged clients, including shame, self-doubt, chronic hope, and identity disruption.
Utilize narrative-based interventions to help clients integrate estrangement into their personal grief story without self-pathologizing.
Apply grounding and mindfulness strategies to support clients experiencing anxiety, hypervigilance, or emotional flooding related to estranged relationships.

Outline

Estrangement as grief: understanding ambiguous and disenfranchised loss
Common pathways to estrangement (neglect, abuse, boundary setting, loyalty conflicts)
Why estranged grief is often chronic, cyclical, and unresolved
What clinicians frequently miss when working with estranged clients
Shame, self-blame and identity disruption in estrangement
Navigating hope, fantasy, and repeated re-injury
Narrative interventions for meaning-making and self-trust
Grounding and mindfulness strategies for anxiety and emotional dysregulation
Limitations of the research and potential risks

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Nurses
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

Transforming Grief with EMDR: Strategies for Processing Loss and Finding Emotional Relief

Are you finding that your standard grief interventions—while helpful for typical mourning—stall when faced with Complicated Grief (CG)? Many clinicians run into the same roadblock: traditional approaches often fail to address the underlying unprocessed traumatic memories and attachment wounds that perpetuate prolonged suffering. If your clients are stuck in cycles of intense distress, avoidance, or rumination months or years after a loss, your current toolkit is missing a critical, evidence-based component.

Imagine if you could approach these intense, stuck cases with a powerful, research-backed framework that targets the memory network itself. This seminar will equip you with the essential knowledge of the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model as it applies specifically to grief, showing you exactly why unprocessed memories prevent natural healing. You will learn to use EMDR's eight-phase protocol with specific, practical adaptations for loss. By integrating EMDR protocols for Complicated Grief into your practice, you will move beyond simply validating your client's pain to actively helping them process the emotional residue of the loss. This shift from surface-level support to deep memory resolution will not only improve your clinical outcomes but also instill a greater sense of confidence and mastery when treating your most complex and heartbreaking cases.

This course is not affiliated with EMDRIA and does not qualify toward EMDRIA credits or training.

Program Information

Objectives

Distinguish between normal grief and complicated grief, and describe the mental health impact of complicated grief.
Summarize the core principles of EDMR therapy – including the eight phases and the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model – and explain how EMDR can be applied to address unprocessed grief-related memories
Identify at least two ways to use EMDR for blocked processing with grievers.

Outline

Foundational Understanding Complicated Grief

Distinguishing typical grief from complicated/prolonged grief
Prevalence and mental health impact of complicated Grief (CG)
The necessity of trauma-informed, specialized grief approaches
Clinical application: Identifying key differentials in client presentation

Theoretical Frameworks for EMDR in Loss

Reviewing the EMDR eight-phase protocol and bilateral stimulation
Understanding the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model in the context of grief
How unprocessed memories and attachment wounds perpetuate Complicated Grief
Integrating current research on attachment theory and grief responses

Protocols and Techniques for Clinical Application

Grief-specific adaptations to the core EMDR protocol
Target selection strategies for loss-related memories
Safety considerations and maintaining client stability during processing
Practical vignettes and examples for applying EMDR to complex loss cases

Integration, Resources, and Limitations

Best practices for combining EMDR with other grief interventions (e.g., narrative, meaning-making)
Evidence base for blocked or stuck processing in EMDR Therapy with grievers
Helpful resources and further study recommendations for advanced EMDR practice
Limitations of the research and potential risks associated with the EMDR approach in grief therapy

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Marriage and Family Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

Forever in My Heart: Expressions of Continuing Bonds in Childhood and Adolescent Grief

Death ends a physical relationship, but our emotional connections remain. Many grieving children and adolescents express this continued attachment by maintaining continuing bonds with the person who died. Continuing bonds are a normal part of the grief process, yet they often raise questions or concerns from those unfamiliar with the concept. In this workshop, you’ll gain insight into how children and adolescents maintain and express these bonds. Assessment and intervention strategies that promote adaptive bonds and healthy ongoing connections will also be explored.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify common expressions of continuing bonds among grieving children and adolescents.
Evaluate the factors that influence the type of continuing bonds children and adolescents maintain.
Employ developmentally appropriate assessment and intervention strategies to promote the maintenance of adaptive bonds following a death.

Outline

Examine the construct of continuing bonds and its relevance to childhood and adolescent bereavement
Apply knowledge of attachment theory to assess continuing bonds in your clients
Explore how continuing bonds change over time
Identify commonly expressed continuing bonds and consider the factors that make those expressions unique
Consider how family differences in continuing bonds impact grieving children and adolescents
Explore assessment and intervention strategies that support the establishment of healthy continuing bonds

Target Audience

Counselors
Marriage and Family Therapists
Social Workers
Physicians
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors