3-Day Advanced Grief Counseling Certification Course: Interventions to Move Clients Toward Healthy Grieving, Growth and Meaning After Loss

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Diana Sebzda, LPC, FT Related seminars and products

Christina Zampitella, PsyD, FT Related seminars and products

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Christina Zampitella, PsyD, FT is a licensed clinical psychologist, Fellow in Thanatology, and founder of the Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy. She serves as an adjunct professor and international professional speaker, with a particular passion for training and mentoring emerging mental health professionals. Dr. Zampitella is also the host of her podcast Phoenix Rising with Dr. Z.

Her clinical practice, research, course development, and teaching focus on bereavement studies, meaning reconstruction, nature-based therapy, and integrative psychology. She has served as Chair of the Continuing Education Committee for multiple professional organizations and is a faculty member at the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, where she holds certifications in grief therapy through meaning reconstruction as well as in non-death losses within the meaning reconstruction framework.

Dr. Zampitella previously served as the resident psychologist for Channel 5 News in San Diego and has appeared on NBC News in both California and Delaware. Her work has been featured in Elle Magazine, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, The New York Post, and several Delaware publications.
 

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Christina Zampitella is the owner of The Center for Grief and Trauma Therapy and has an employment relationship with National University. She receives compensation as a presenter and receives a grant from Delaware Workforce Training. She receives speaking honorariums from TZK Seminars and eCare. She is the founder and host of Phoenix Rising with Dr. Z. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Non-financial: Christina Zampitella serves on the advisory committee for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and the National University's Integrative Psychology Bachelor's Degree Program. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Delaware Psychological Association. She is a fellow with the Association for Death Education and Counseling.
 

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Objectives

1. Investigate the clinical implications of distinctions between adult and youth responses to loss.
2. Assess for trauma, depression, substance use and anxiety in grieving clients.
3. Utilize two assessment measures for gathering grief responses.
4. Distinguish how the experiences created by different types of loss impact assessment and treatment planning.
5. Analyze the impact of death on the family system and the corresponding effects on treatment.
6. Evaluate contemporary models of bereavement as they relate to case conceptualization for grief therapy.
7. Asses the boundaries of professional competence in grief work and know when to refer out.
8. Investigate factors that can influence the grief process including the type of loss and support system.
9. Use the DSM-5 to diagnose/identify Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder.
10. Employ emotional regulation techniques to help calm clients who’ve experienced a traumatic loss.
11. Implement a bereavement plan of care for identified Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder.
12. Use CBT techniques to help bereaved clients manage guilt, blame and other maladaptive cognitions following loss.
13. Apply narrative approaches to help clients construct meaning following loss.
14. Utilize mindfulness interventions to reduce anxiety symptoms in clients with anticipatory grief.
15. Evaluate the clinical implications of cultural beliefs surrounding mourning and continuing relationships with the deceased.
16. Utilize best practices to structure and facilitate grief support or treatment groups.
17. Investigate ethical considerations to ensure proper management of terminally ill clients, minors, families an end-of-life decisions.
18. Develop strategies for self-care when working with grieving clients.
19. Analyze continuing attachment bonds and their relevance to clinical practice with bereaved clients across the lifespan.

Outline

• Distinctions between adult and youth responses to loss
• Common grief reactions and coping mechanisms
• Factors for assessing and counseling kids and teens at schools
• The elderly – working with multiple losses, fewer supports and/or physical health issues
• Ethics with minors, families, and the terminally ill

• Normal grief and acute reactions
• Complicated or prolonged grief
• Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder
• Ambiguous grief in the face of changes in the living
• Chronic grief
• Traumatic grief following sudden or violent loss
• Anticipatory and disenfranchised grief
• Delayed, inhibited, abbreviated other types of commonly overlooked grief

• Impact on adult caregivers and siblings
• Family adaptation to loss
• Changing the family narrative
• Intergenerational effect of grief and trauma

• Intakes and gathering information
• Two assessment measures for gathering grief responses
• Assessment for depression, PTSD, trauma, substance use, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and violence

• Differential diagnosis between uncomplicated and complicated grief
• Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder
• Differential using the DSM-5™ and upcoming DSM5-TR

• Uncomplicated grief treatment planning
  • Grief counseling vs. grief therapy
  • Specific objectives based on the client’s grieving process
• Complicated Grief Therapy
  • Narrative Reconstruction Therapy for complicated grief
  • Integrative Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for complicated grief
    • Specific objectives for complicated grief

• Narrative and somatic techniques
• Expressive arts techniques – music, writing, art, and more
• Interventions for regret, forgiveness, shame, and guilt
• Continued bonds and therapeutic bereavement rituals
• Nature-based therapy
• Systematic desensitization and flooding to reduce avoidance
• EMDR for complicated grief and traumatic loss

• End of relationship
• Chronic illness and terminal illness
• Deployment, job and/or retirement
• Infertility, independence, and identity
• Safety, meaning, and purpose
• Spirituality and religion
• Potential futures

• Defining resiliency and post-traumatic growth
• Employing a client’s strengths
• Considerations to foster growth with traumatic and suicide loss

• Differences between psychoeducational and therapeutic groups
• Open vs. closed groups
• Homogeneous vs. heterogeneous groups
• Peer vs. clinician led
• Participant screening and keys to effective facilitation

• Cultural competency vs. culturally and difference intentioned/aware practice
• Disenfranchised grief
• How culture impacts mourning, rituals, expectation, and continued bonds
• Working with spiritual and religious differences between clinician and client

• Boundaries of professional competence and when to refer out
• Research and treatment risks
• Compassion fatigue
• Self-care as an ethical imperative

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Psychiatrists
• Addiction Counselors
• Nurse Practitioners
• Mental Health Nurses
• Pastoral Counselors
• Chaplains/Clergy
• Thanatologists
• Physicians