Recorded Training

Transcending Taboos:
Re‑writing the Self in Grief

While sadness is readily sanctioned in bereavement, other less comfortable emotions such as anger, regret, relief, guilt, joy, and desire are frequently considered taboos by those facing loss. Because research shows that a much larger pallet of feelings is common in those who are grieving, this module uses writing techniques to enlarge the space for the expression of “unwelcome” thoughts and feelings. A desire for “identity maintenance” is often at the heart of not admitting to a more complex set of authentic responses to loss. In addition to making it safe for clients to express relief and joy, the techniques learners will learn in this module will challenge three common taboos in bereavement: acknowledgement of secondary losses (e.g., becoming estranged from common friends; losing a joint home), unfinished business with the deceased (e.g., unresolved regrets and conflicts), and ongoing sexual desire following partner/spousal loss. Learners will practice creative writing exercises that work with each of these impediments to growth through grief and learn how a range of taboo feelings are adaptive in their own way, even if they depart from common cultural scripts for “appropriate mourning.” In working with one’s own ‘taboo material,’ learners will learn how to open space for clients to do the same, ultimately accommodating a wider range of lived experience in grief, as part and parcel of true resilience.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Facilitate clients’ use of Dialogues of Healing to transform taboos, promote validation of secondary losses and resolve unfinished business;
Discover the adaptive function of sadness, anger, and joy in grief and the role of negative emotion in promoting resilience; and
Practice inquiry-based writing exercises that challenge constraining assumptions about one’s personal identity as a grieving person.

Earn 1 Credit for Practicum Module toward
Certification in Meaning-Focused Grief Therapy
or Certification in Grief Therapy for Non-Death Losses
Offered by the Portland Institute.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

This program contains the following video segments:

Writing the Unsayable: Proprioceptive Writing (30 mins)
Unfinished Business in Bereavement: Incomplete Sentences (36 mins)
Acknowledging the Inescapable: A Poetic Practice (34 mins)
Identity Maintenance: Writing for Freedom (34 mins)