Working with Continuing Bonds in Grief Therapy: A Clinician’s Toolbox

9-10 July 2026

Singapore

Presented by

Robert A. Neimeyer

PhD

Director, Portland Institute for Loss and Transition
Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Memphis

Carolyn Ng

PsyD, MMSAC, RegCLR

Associate Director, Portland Institute for Loss and Transition
Therapist, Anchorage for Loss and Transition

EARLY BIRD till 1 June 2026

Just SGD$900 for 2-day workshop! (Inclusive of lunch & 2 tea breaks)

Death may end a life, but not necessarily a relationship.  Drawing on attachment-informed and Two-Track models of bereavement, we will begin by considering grieving as a process of reconstructing rather than relinquishing our continuing bonds with those who have died.  But at times both the circumstances of the death and the nature of the relationship in their shared lives can pose profound challenges for survivors in establishing a sustainable bond to the deceased, creating impasses in doing so that can become the focus of grief therapy.  Thus, we will discuss research on both circumstantial factors (e.g., sudden or violent death, inability to tend to the loved one at the end of life) and relational complications (unresolved issues between the living and dead) that characteristically leave many questions unanswered, much that is unsaid, and multiple longstanding concerns unaddressed.  To redress these relational complications, we will introduce a scale for identifying complex relational histories that need to be processed, as well as several creative, art-assisted techniques to review and revise the character of the bond with the deceased.  In addition, through actual therapy recordings, we will demonstrate how symbolic conversations in both correspondence and chair work formats can help clients repair the relationship with someone who they typically have loved, even if ambivalently, and lost before setting things right.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Topical Overview

Come and Join Us!

Check out the other Onsite workshop on

when dying is well accompanied:
A quest for meaning in terminal illness

on 13-14 July 2026

GRIEF TRAINING FACULTY​

Carolyn Ng

Carolyn Ng, PsyD, MMSAC, RegCLR maintains a private practice, Anchorage for Loss and Transition, for training, supervision and therapy in Singapore, while also serving as an Associate Director of the Portland Institute.  Previously she served as Principal Counsellor with the Children’s Cancer Foundation in Singapore, specialising in cancer-related palliative care and bereavement counselling.  She is a registered counsellor, master clinical member and approved supervisor with the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC), a Fellow in Thanatology with the Association of Death Education and Counselling (ADEC), USA, as well as a consultant to a cancer support and bereavement ministry in Sydney, Australia.  She is a trained end-of-life doula and advanced care planning facilitator.  She is also trained in the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, USA, community crisis response by the National Organisation for Victim Assistance (NOVA), USA, as well as Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) by LivingWorks, Canada. Her recent writing concerns meaning-oriented narrative reconstruction with bereaved families, with an emphasis on conversational approaches for fostering new meaning and action.

Find out more at: www.anchorage-for-loss.org.

Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD

Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, and maintains an active consulting and coaching practice.  He also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition (www.portlandinstitute.org), which provides online training internationally in grief therapy.  Neimeyer has published 33 books, including New Techniques of Grief Therapy:  Bereavement and Beyond, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Studies.  The author of over 500 articles and book chapters and a frequent workshop presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process.  Neimeyer served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement.  In recognition of his scholarly contributions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both ADEC and the International Network on Personal Meaning.

 

GRIEF TRAINING WORKSHOP DETAILS

Dates:  9-10 July 2026
Time:   9am – 5pm
Venue:  Lifelong Learning Institute
For enquiries, please call: 6425-2422

WORKSHOP FEE

Regular Fee: SGD$975
Early Bird: SGD$900

~ Check with AHD for PCG status ~

EARLY BIRD till 1 June 2026
Just SGD$900 for 2-day workshop!
(Inclusive of lunch & 2 tea breaks)

For workshop enquiries and registration, please email davegoh@ahd.com.sg.

For certification enquiries, please email carolyn@portlandinstitute.org.

In collaboration with the Academy of Human Development (AHD) in Singapore, PI provides multiple training series in Meaning Reconstruction Grief Therapy for professionals from diverse disciplines.  

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