Mindful Grief: Mindfulness Techniques to Address Avoidance and Improve Emotional Regulation in Grief Treatment

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Debra Premashakti Alvis, PhD Related seminars and products

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Debra Premashakti Alvis, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and private practitioner with over 30 years of clinical experience in supporting clients’ recovery from trauma, mood and relational concerns. Debra began working with parts of the self over three decades ago training extensively in Jungian oriented psychotherapy and contemplative approaches. She applied movement, mindfulness, and the expressive arts to explore parts of the self. She deepened her understanding of inner parts through multiple Internal Family Systems therapy educational trainings, combining her embodied contemplative approach with the IFS model. She finds that this integrative approach strengthens the self through facilitating the resolution of inner conflicts.

A seasoned international presenter and consultant, Dr. Alvis is a therapeutic yoga educator and mindfulness meditation teacher. She retired as faculty member from the University of Georgia where she developed and led the mind/body program. The program included a clinician training program integrating mindfulness, yoga and psychotherapy. A personal contemplative practice, research experience, and a deep understanding of Polyvagal Theory further enrich her presentations. She draws upon this unique background to provide effective, easily applicable skills designed for immediate integration into clinicians’ practices.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Alvis maintains a private practice and has more than 25 years of clinical experience in treating clients with a variety of conditions by mindfulness principles, body-oriented principles and traditional psychotherapeutic approaches. She also has an over 30-year personal contemplative practice.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Debra Alvis maintains a private practice and receives a speaking honorarium from PSIvet, Ridgeview Institute, Twin Lakes Recovery Center, eCare, Essential Therapy Training, Alma, CEU Creations and Mountain Area Health Education Center. She is a paid consultant for Evergreen Certifications. Debra Alvis receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Debra Alvis is a member of the American Association of College Student Personnel, the Association for Contemplative Mind in Higher Education, the Association of Specialists in Group Work, the Athens Area Psychological Association, and the Georgia Psychological Association.

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Objectives

1. Investigate how the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on emotional regulation can facilitate client coping.
2. Assess grief treatment implications of positive correlations between mindfulness practices and increases in non-reactivity and self-compassion.
3. Evaluate how the non-judgmental focus on the present moment of mindfulness practices can help grieving clients with experiential avoidance issues.
4. Analyze the neurological mechanisms contributing to various outcomes in grief.
5. Evaluate the clinical implications of reduced trauma symptomology following mindfulness-based interventions on the treatment of traumatic grief.
6. Investigate how the demonstrated efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing anxiety symptoms can inform the treatment plan of clinicians working with bereaved clients experiencing grief-related anxieties.

Outline

• The uniqueness of grief
• Mapping the journey
• Grief as a spiral staircase
• Diagnostic criteria
• How to identify and adapt to individual grief styles

• Resolve ambivalence in grief with “find middle ground exercises”
• A sacred memory walk – combine talk therapy with mindful movement
• Move beyond the waterfall of grief with compassionate non-judging
• The Mustard Seed – metaphors for loss

• The neurophysiology of grief
• How grief interrupts normal brain functioning
• How to serve as a safety and connection anchor
• Exercises to strengthen resiliency
  • A Heart-Opening Playlist
  • Precious Memories Altar
  • Colors for Grounding and Calm
  • Muscle tension releasing – exercises to counter fight or flight responses

• A grief triggers chart
• Grounding exercises and sample scripts
• Guided meditations to disempower intrusive thoughts following loss
• Self-soothe with calming words and imagery
• 5 effective exercises to help clients breathe through anxiety

• Find new meaning and purpose with “tobe” lists
• Grief as love - continuing the relational bond after death
• Help clients find meaning through traditions

• The latest research on therapists who practice mindfulness
• Cultural sensitivity and individualizing your approach
• Compassion fatigue resiliency strategies
• When practitioner grief arises – body/mind cues for presence
• Research, limitations and treatment risks

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Nursing Home Administrators
• Pastoral Counselors
• Chaplains/Clergy
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners
• Mental Health Nurses
• Thanatologists