Transformed by Loss: Art Therapy Self-Portraits & the Redefined Self

This module, rooted in art therapy theory and Neimeyer’s Meaning Reconstruction theory, introduces the use of self-portraiture with grieving clients.  After a significant loss, the grievers often experience an altered sense of self and the world, and need to reconstruct a cohesive life narrative that is inclusive of their pre-loss and post-loss identities.  The creation […]

Grief through Creative Lens

Grief often calls for personal expression and often words are not enough.  Inviting clients to engage with color, shape, imagery and bits of paper sometimes meets with resistance since many people do not think of themselves as “creative.”  We all have imaginations and therefore the opportunity to view our grief experiences through a creative lens.  […]

Expressive Storytelling

Life-changing loss, especially in its tragic forms, can break life stories as well as hearts.  Expressive Storytelling supports a bereaved person’s adaptation to loss by gathering the shattered pieces, placing them on a chronological timeline, and retelling the crucial details through a therapeutic writing structure that encourages reconciliation and healing. After my father’s death, I […]

Drama Therapy Techniques

How can we as professionals work deeply with the grief of our clients when words are not enough?  This experiential module offers one novel answer in the form of drama therapy techniques adapted for individual and group bereavement interventions.  Dramatic actions in therapy help bring to life invisible dimensions of the experience that cannot be […]

Compassion-Based Therapy

Compassion-based approaches have been widely supported through recent research in the field with diverse populations. These approaches are of specific interest in bereavement due to their capacity-building effect for clinicians and clients alike. Training in compassion has demonstrated enhanced ability to tolerate distress, maintain focus, and discern clinical interventions that are appropriate for clients in […]

Sociopolitical Grief: Grieving the Loss of Our World

With the current political climate and the deepening divisions and polarization that accompany it, people often talk about grief that originates in social and political structures but is felt in a profoundly personal way.  Sociopolitical grief includes the direct losses that are experienced by individuals as a result of political policies, ideologies, and oppression enacted […]

Non-Death Loss II

Grief is a natural and nearly universal response to the death of a loved one.  But what is less recognized is that it is also a response to circumstances that have far less social recognition and support—the loss of health to illness or injury, the demise of relationships through betrayal or separation, the erosion of […]

Non-Death Loss I

Grief certainly occurs after the death of someone we love, but it also manifests in the midst of losses that may not be as obvious or easily described.  These are living losses — the loss experiences and their accompanying ambiguity that we must learn to live with as we continue with our lives.  Some living […]