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Level 1 Certification in Grief Therapy

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Meaning-Focused Grief Therapy (MFGT)

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When Dying Is Well Accompanied: A Quest for Meaning in Terminal Illness

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Grief and the Expressive Arts: Activating the Creative Imagination

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LIVE ONLINE TRAINING

Grief and the Expressive Arts: Activating the Creative Imagination

June 12, 2026, 9am-12pm (PDT)

Presented by Shoshi Keisari, PhD; Barbara E. Thompson, OTD, LCSW and Stacie A. Yeldell, MA, MT-BC, AVPT

Associate Professor, University of Haifa
Professor Emerita, Russell Sage College
Adjunct Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies

Significant loss, including but not limited to bereavement, can disrupt our practical identities, dislodge relationships with others, and alter our experience of belonging in place and time.  Adaptive grieving involves reconstructing a world of meaning that is enacted in the physical and social environment and shaped by cultural scripts.  Aesthetic activities are embodied and help orient mourners in space and time, providing tangible ways to navigate the paradoxes of presence and absence and integrate changes in relationships with self and other.  Engaging the creative imagination to shape loss experiences can create opportunities for emotional awareness and expression, symbolic communication, self-regulation, creativity, and new perspectives, in service of meaning-making and renewed vitality.  This module will focus on the use of the visual arts, music, and drama with grievers.  It will include theoretical and empirical support for the expressive arts in grief, along with experiential practice.  Cultural considerations and strategies will also be addressed.

Note: This 3-hour CE module focuses on topics related to psychological practice, education, or research other than application of psychological assessment and/or intervention methods that are supported by contemporary scholarship grounded in established research procedures.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Describe how the use of the visual arts in grief work can promote self-regulation, co-regulation and the meaning-making process;
  • Demonstrate how drama therapy interventions can support meaning reconstruction in individuals coping with grief and loss; and
  • Discuss how musical engagement can serve as an embodied bridge between memory and present-moment awareness, supporting emotional regulation and renewed vitality after loss.

Earn 3 Continuing Education (CE) Credits

Portland Institute for Loss and Transition is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.  Portland Institute for Loss and Transition maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, [Provider number 1954], is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program.  Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers.  State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.  Portland Institute for Loss and Transition maintains responsibility for this course.  ACE provider approval period: 09/09/2024–09/09/2025.

Earn 1 Credit for Orientation Module toward
Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy, or

1 Credit for Technique Module toward
Certification in Meaning-Focused Grief Therapy,
or ​Certification in Grief Therapy for Non-Death Loss
​offered by the Portland Institute.
 

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

This program contains the following segments:

  • Visual Arts:  Symbols and Significance (60 min.)
  • Music Therapy:  Expression and Exploration (60 min.) ​
  • Drama Therapy:  Performing Grief and Resilience (60 min.)
 

TARGET AUDIENCE

  • Psychologists, social workers, counselors, art / music / expressive arts therapists, pastoral care personnel, healthcare professionals, bereavement volunteers
  • To qualify for the 3 CE Credits, please kindly note that:
    • Full attendance of the entire session is required to receive CE credits.  No partial credit is awarded.
    • You are required to complete a CE quiz after the session.  An overall score of 75% or higher within three attempts is required to obtain CE credits. The certificate of CE credits will then be issued to you.
    • For those who pursue ACE CEs, please note that you are also required to complete the CEs Evaluation (ACE).

INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL

  • Intermediate

WEBINAR TIMING

  • June 12, 2026, 9am-12pm, PDT, Portland, OR, that corresponds to 12-3pm in Eastern Time, 5-8pm in Greenwich Mean Time and 6-9pm in Central European Time.
  • If your time zone is not listed, you may check the corresponding date and time using World Clock Meeting Planner.
Note:  The Zoom link and learning materials will be emailed to the registrants in due course.

Disclosure Statement

This live online training is not supported financially by a manufacturer of any commercial product and there is no sale of any product or publication during the live training session.  There is no known conflict of interest for this CE module or the presenting faculty.

GRIEF TRAINING FACULTY​

Barbara E. Thompson

Barbara E. Thompson, OTD, LCSW, is a Professor of Occupational Therapy, Russell Sage College in Troy, NY, where she also maintains an active psychotherapy practice.  She founded the Hospice Day Program and ALS Regional Center at St. Peter’s Hospice in Albany, NY and has published  articles, book chapters and two books on use of contemplative practices and the creative arts in palliative, end-of-life and bereavement care.  Her books include Grief and the Expressive Arts: Practices for Creating Meaning (2014) with Robert Neimeyer, and Prescriptive Memories in Grief and Loss: The Art of Dreamscaping (2019) with Nancy Gershman, both published by Routledge.

Shoshi Keisari

Shoshi Keisari, PhD, is a registered drama therapist, researcher and lecturer at the Emilie Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center and the School of Creative Arts Therapies of the University of Haifa, Israel.  Her research activity is centered on drama therapy, narrative therapy, clinical gerontology, loss and grief.  She did her post-doctoral research at the University of Padua, Italy.  Along with her research, Shoshi works as a drama therapist with the aging population in both public and private frameworks.  Find out more by contacting her at Email: skeisari@gmail.com.

Stacie A. Yeldell, MA, MT-BC, AVPT

Stacie Aamon Yeldell, MA, MT-BC, AVPT, is a board member of Vox Femina, founder of Amöntra, and aa Mental Health Specialist at Project HOPE. She is the best-selling author of Choose Yourself: A 12-Week Journey to Becoming the God of Your Own Heart and an award-winning vocalist, speaker, and music psychotherapist with two decades of experience in mental health treatment. Stacie has worked with organizations like The Grammy Foundation, LA Opera, Google Arts & Culture, Netflix, and YoungArts. She is on faculty at the Arts & Healing Initiative and California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and is a contributing author to Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness.  A sought-after speaker, she has presented at Women in Music, the National Arts Policy Roundtable, and the Sound Health Summit. Featured in the documentary Proven, CBS News, and Music and Mind Live, Stacie holds a Master’s in Music Therapy from NYU and certifications in Sound Healing and Vocal Psychotherapy.

Purchase without CEs
USD$99 for 3-hour module / USD$124 with CE Credits

Testimonials

I really liked the session and learned a lot about myself throughout this experience. I learned a lot of practical skills and strategies that I can use for myself or even for my clients in between and during sessions.

Sarah Abi-Khaled

It was great learning and reinforcement of the value of making meaning for one’s posttraumatic growth. I really like the way you model validation and reframing in your case studies. Meeting a client where they are and then facilitating with one of interventions you’ve given, in their moment of readiness. Teaching and modeling this is very helpful to watch unfold.

Celeste Miller

I appreciate so much how Dr. Neimeyer and Dr. Ng explain, present and model the use of the techniques throughout the workshop. Both Drs. Neimeyer and Ng are top in their field. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many other faculty at the retreat–all of whom are experts in this field. I look forward to participating in the certificate program.

Beth Bowman

I enjoyed the whole seminar – very informative and well organized.

Stephanie Enos

Deeply moving, well-supported with theory and research, extremely useful and inspiring. The slides were beautiful and engrossing. I’m sure we were all looking closely and deeply, in a parallel process with the screen and within ourselves.

Robin Roberts

I was very moved by the instructor sharing her personal experience as well as her art. Having her client present to share her loss and her art was also powerful and impactful. The learning from this class was deep and sustaining.

Paula Lowden

I truly loved everything. I particularly enjoyed the combinations of lecture and experientials.

Kristen Moore

The entire retreat was amazing. It was perfectly paced for learning and creating. It was both personally powerful and professionally. I loved the Lunch and Learn.

Brenda Daly

I am extremely impressed by this conference. The topics, the presenters. It was well worth the time and money.

Cynthia Crockett

Thank you for a beautiful retreat. I was moved to tears several times and it has set me on a course of deeper discovery. The presenters were all top notch, knowlegeable, and engaging. The activities allowed us to discover many things about ourselves and sharing the experience with others was invaluable. Those interactions will stay with me for a long time.

Jean Edwards

Honored & grateful for the PI team. Such a wealth of knowledge, expertise & compassion for humanity & healing suffering. I cannot wait to engage further with the PI trainings!

Nola Simpson

This is my first experience with PI and now I have found my go-to place for ongoing learning, mentoring & connection! I’m so excited for more! 

Monica Hanza

Well done!  Appropriate breadth & nice depth of skills covered. Appreciate the experiential approach. Knowledgeable & supportive faculty. Looking forward to doing more with PI in the future.

Allison Ilem

PI’s Grief Therapy Learning Retreat offered a safe holding space for grief professionals to gather in a beautiful setting & learn with prominent leaders in the field of thanatology. Professional yet warm, rigorous yet invigorating — I’m leaving with a sense of renewal to meeting clients where they are.

Lisa A. Rainwater

The retreat, the attendees, the faculty, the leaders and the offerings (learning opportunities) were really off-the-charts amazing. Thank you for creating an event that has been transformational for me.

Sheila Henderson

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