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Certification

Level 1 Certification in Grief Therapy

Level 2 Certification

Meaning-Focused Grief Therapy (MFGT)

Family-Focused Grief Therapy (FFGT)

Grief Therapy for Non-Death Losses (NDL)

Art-Assisted Grief Therapy (AAGT)

Grief Therapy for Traumatic Loss (GTTL)

Training

In-Person Training

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

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

Grief Therapy Learning Retreat

Live Online Training

Grief and the Expressive Arts: Activating the Creative Imagination

Recorded Training

Speakers Bureau

Contact

ACORN PLMS

Recorded Training

Collage:
Integrating the Torn Pieces

This module introduces collage as a transformative art therapy modality, effective in the treatment of traumatic loss. Collages are works of art created from the pages of magazines. Images and words are cut and/or torn, altered, arranged and glued onto paper or cardboard. This “therapy of the imagination,” is particularly well suited as a sense making tool in a world suddenly challenged and changed by the coronavirus pandemic. This non-verbal creative approach weaves together art therapy based theory and practices with current grief and bereavement theories such as Neimeyer’s Meaning Reconstruction, Worden’s Task Model of Bereavement and Rynearson’s Restorative Retelling Model. Case studies include collage images created by the presenter in response to the suicide of her daughter, as well as images created by the bereaved. An experiential component will provide learners with an opportunity to explore and express an internal landscape and piece together a personal and/or professional experience of loss.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Conceptualize the collage process and product through a Meaning Reconstruction focus on the event story and back story narrative;
  • Identify questions that support a creative process grounded in Rynearson’s Restorative Retelling;
  • Describe three creative interventions that support grief work, anchored in Neimeyer’s framework of bracing, pacing and facing; and
  • Identify three creative process “Brass Tacks” that support sense making, benefit finding and identity reformation.

Earn 1 Credit for Practicum Module toward
Certification in Art-Assisted Grief Therapy
Offered by the Portland Institute.

 
 

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

This program contains the following video segments:

  • Working with the Fragments: Architecture of the Sessions (26 mins)
  • Putting It All Together: Case Studies in Traumatic Loss (29 mins)
  • Diving In: An Experiential Exercise (23 mins)
  • The Art of Collage: Guidelines for Practice and Processing (23 mins)

Collage:
Integrating the Torn Pieces

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

GRIEF TRAINING FACULTY​

Sharon Strouse

MA, ATR-BC, LCPAT
Baltimore, MD, United States

is a board-certified and licensed clinical professional art therapist and Associate Director for the Portland Institute.  Her art therapy private practice, national presentations, trainings and practitioner supervision/ mentoring focus on traumatic loss, specifically with parents who have lost a child, suicide bereavement, and military loss/ Gold Star Families.  The theoretical foundations of her group and individual art therapy work are grounded in meaning reconstruction, attachment informed grief therapy, continuing bonds with the deceased and restorative retelling. She is author of Artful Grief: A Diary of Healing, (www.artfulgrief.com) written twelve years after the suicide of her seventeen-year-old daughter.  She is co-founder of The Kristin Rita Strouse Foundation (www.krsf.com) a non-profit dedicated to supporting programs that increase awareness of mental health through education and the arts.

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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