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Level 1 Certification in Grief Therapy

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Meaning-Focused Grief Therapy (MFGT)

Family-Focused Grief Therapy (FFGT)

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Art-Assisted Grief Therapy (AAGT)

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

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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ACORN PLMS

Recorded Training

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 and/or empowered at the sociopolitical levels.  Racially and ethnically marginalized populations are challenged by the persistent pain and suffering that occur as a result of ongoing inequity, racism, and divisive ideologies on power maintenance and resistance to oppression.  In this module, the concept of sociopolitical grief will be explored from many different perspectives, along with approaches to better understand the personal and collective impact of losses that originate at the structural level.  Learners will have the opportunity to explore their own experiences of sociopolitical grief and find approaches that may help to address these issues from diverse perspectives, including compassionate perspectives and positions of radical self and community care directed towards the pain and moral injury that are unique to this form of grief.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Define and describe sociopolitical grief and its implications for different populations;
  • Explain intersectionality, power, and systemic oppression in relation to nonfinite loss, cultural trauma, suffocated grief and sociopolitical grief;
  • Delineate systemic and individual shifts and actions essential to healing amid suffocated grief and sociopolitical grief; and
  • Identify constructive ways to approach sociopolitical grief at both the personal and broader structural levels.

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

 
 

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

This program contains the following video segments:

  • The Social Context of Loss: When the Political is Personal (45 mins)
  • Popularism and the Costs of Othering: Seeking Compassion and a Common Ground (41 mins)
  • Privilege, Power and Oppression: Sociopolitical Grief from the Margins (36 mins)
  • Suffocated Grief in the Black Community: Resistance and Resilience (43 mins)

Sociopolitical Grief:
Grieving the Loss of Our World

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

GRIEF TRAINING FACULTY​

Darcy Harris

RN, RSW, PhD, FT
London, ON, Canada

Darcy L. Harris, RN. RSW, PhD, FT, is Professor Emeritus of Thanatology at King’s University College / Western University in London, Canada.  She is also a faculty member of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition and co-editor for Routledge publishing company’s Death, Dying, and Bereavement Series.  Her research interests include non-death loss and grief, including structural, political, and environmental grief, in addition to social justice issues in contexts of loss and grief, and the application of compassion-based approaches to loss and grief.

Tashel C. Bordere

PhD, CT
Columbia, MO, United States

Tashel C. Bordere, PhD, CT is an assistant professor of Human Development and Family Science and State Specialist at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She serves on the Board of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), Board of the National Alliance for Grieving Children (NAGC), and Advisory Council of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Dr. Bordere is a former Forward Promise Fellow (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) and received the Ronald K. Barrett National Award (ADEC) for her research on bereaved Black youth. Her research, publications, and trainings focus on cultural trauma, Black youth and family bereavement, suffocated grief (a term she coined), and coping. She has a co-edited book (w/Darcy Harris) – Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief (Routledge).

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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