FSW 130 - Navigating the Many Shapes of Grief
Course Description
While many of us support individuals who are facing death or the loss of a loved one, the past two years have provided us with a collective awareness about the poignancy of loss and grief both professionally and personally. Loss and grief occur across a broad spectrum of life events. We do, of course, grieve the loss of loved ones who die. However, we also grieve the loss of ourselves, life as we have known it, and our plans for what we hoped would unfold. This session will explore grief in its many shapes and descriptions, offering suggestions for how to respond, including sustainable ways to support grief that occurs alongside losses that are ongoing in nature.
Darcy L. Harris, R.N., R.S.W., M.Ed. (Couns.), Ph.D., FT, is a Professor of Thanatology at King’s University College in London, Canada, where she also maintains a private clinical practice specializing in issues related to change, loss, and transition. In addition, she is a faculty member of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, dedicated to training in grief therapy leading toward Certification in Meaning Reconstruction in Loss. She has served on the board of directors of the Association for Death Education and Counseling and is a current member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement.
She is the series co-editor for Routledge Publishing Company’s Death, Dying, and Bereavement Series and she is an internationally recognized speaker and author. Her publications include Counting our Losses: Reflecting on Change, Loss, and Transition in Everyday Life (Routledge), Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (Routledge), Principles and Practice of Grief Counseling (Springer), The Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief: Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Routledge) and Non-Death Loss and Grief: Context and Clinical Implications (Routledge). Her upcoming book, Compassion-Based Approaches to Loss and Grief, will be published in 2022.
Course Details
- Describe the unique features of different types of loss experiences and clinical implications for support.
- Understand the importance of facilitating the adaptive aspects of grief in ourselves and others.
- Identify sustainable approaches to losses that are ongoing or chronic in nature.