Full Course Description

Module 1: David Kessler: Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief

Even as a grief expert, David was unprepared for the sudden death of his son, who died at age 21. People asked him, “What’s it like for the grief expert to lose his son?” He would answer, “The grief expert did not lose his son, the father did.” Everything he knew about grief turned out to be true. David had to go through the five stages of grief but found himself left wanting more from the experience – he wanted to find meaning in his life after such a terrible loss.  He learned that broken heart syndrome is real and he realized he would either die of it or live with it, and that healing occurs not when grief gets smaller, but when life gets bigger.  This led to the discovery of the 6th stage of grief – finding meaning.  

Based on David Kessler’s newest book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, this seminar recording is designed to help professionals guide people through life’s worst moments to find meaning after loss.  All types of loss will be covered, including betrayal, loss of a parent or family member, and loss due to addiction, mental illness and suicide.        

After attending this seminar recording, you will be able to enhance your work with those who have dealt with any kind of loss. It will fill you with new insight, tools, strategies, and inspiring information, leaving you looking forward to the next day… so you can immediately begin to use all you have learned! 

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“People always want to know if there is life after death for their loved ones. I believe there is, but more importantly, there is life after death for the living. I want to help them find meaning that honors their loved ones. Sometimes when we are at our worst, we can find our best.”  -David Kessler

David is honored to have received permission from The Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Family and The Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation to add a sixth stage to her renowned 5 stages of grief.

Program Information

Outline

The Sixth Stage of Grief: Finding Meaning

  • Why the stages were never meant to be linear
  • What is making meaning in grief?
  • Types of meaning making
  • How meaning can help remember the person who died with more love than pain
  • Why a sixth stage is the key to recovery from grief
  • Keys to finding acceptance and moving into the sixth stage
Witnessing vs “Fixing” Grief
  • Mirroring techniques
  • The cost of trying to “fix” those who are grieving
  • Go beyond active listening skills to connect
  • The consequence of trying to find meaning too early
Help Clients Change Their Thinking Around Loss
  • Strategies to address guilt, shame and stigma in grief
  • How to increase resilience after loss
  • Use positive psychology to increase the possibility of post traumatic growth
  • Understand the “meaning” we attach to the traumatic loss or death
  • How to decrease catastrophizing after loss
  • Learn ways to instill good memories instead of painful ones
Complicated Grief
  • Simplifying grief models and exploring new models, including resiliency and Option B
  • Meaning making as a new tool for dealing with murder, multiple losses, Alzheimer’s
  • Techniques for strength-based grief counseling
  • Post traumatic growth vs Post traumatic trauma
  • Techniques for releasing the obsessive replaying of the trauma/death
Help Bereaved parents
  • Understand the impact of child loss
  • Learn ways to be comfortable with treating this type of loss
  • Techniques for helping parents who are often grieving differently
  • Learn ways to help sustain the marriage through tremendous loss
  • Ways to help parents deal with the discomfort of living and loving again
  • Address intimacy issues that may come up in grief
The Grief of Suicide
  • Tools for dealing with the “what if’s” and “if only’s”
  • Understand the true “why” of death by suicide
  • Ways to help others find peace again
Loss by Addiction
  • Meaning making for healing self-blame
  • How to help loved one’s sort through the shame and isolation
  • Understand the roles they did and didn’t play in an addiction death
Shootings and Other Disasters
  • Shootings/hurricanes/earthquakes and terrorist’s acts
  • Techniques for approaching horrific crime and/or disaster scenes
  • The impact of natural vs. manmade disasters
Healing Grief in Divorce
  • Use meaning to reframe divorce and heal shame
  • Heal after betrayal by understanding its meaning
  • Understand the true meaning of marriage after it ends
  • Interpret the meaning behind negative reoccurring patterns
  • Negative meanings we make after a relationship ends
Healing Complicated Relationships after Death
  • Learn techniques to heal a relationship after death
  • Understand patterns that can heal that relationship and help in all future relationships
  • Learn ways to help your client find peace in difficult relationships
Meaning and the Afterlife
  • Effective and ineffective models of continuing connections for living a full life
  • Use the model of continuing bonds and connections for healing
  • Learn ways to normalize client experiences around continued connections with loved ones that have died

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Nurses
  • Case Managers
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Chaplains/Clergy Hospitals
  • Palliative Care Services
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/12/2020

Module 2: David Kessler: Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief

Copyright : 03/12/2020

Module 3: David Kessler: Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Develop meaning-making principles to assist clients coping with various types of loss.
  2. Formulate ways to use meaning to help clients remember with more love than pain.
  3. Evaluate techniques for using meaning to help clients resolve the internal struggle of “why did this happen?” and “why did this happen to me?”
  4. Determine why children are often the forgotten grievers and how to help them through their grief.
  5. Develop strategies that incorporate meaning mechanisms to help clients cope with complicated grieving.
  6. Utilize strategies to help clients address guilt, shame and stigma associated with grief.

Copyright : 03/12/2020

Module 4: David Kessler: Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Develop meaning-making principles to assist clients coping with various types of loss.
  2. Formulate ways to use meaning to help clients remember with more love than pain.
  3. Evaluate techniques for using meaning to help clients resolve the internal struggle of “why did this happen?” and “why did this happen to me?”
  4. Determine why children are often the forgotten grievers and how to help them through their grief.
  5. Develop strategies that incorporate meaning mechanisms to help clients cope with complicated grieving.
  6. Utilize strategies to help clients address guilt, shame and stigma associated with grief.

Copyright : 03/12/2020

Grieving and Remembering Well: Tools for Healing

While most therapists are experienced in exploring the pain of grief, their clients may be asking for a clear direction out of their pain. How does the therapist deal with questions of “When will this pain end?” How and when can the therapists help the client shift from feeling pain to experiencing healing?

David Kessler, one of the world’s foremost experts on healing and loss, will look closely at how death shapes our grief and explore appropriate interventions and talking points to use in your session. This recording will help you better understand how to approach the sensitivities of grief and, learn the importance of grieving for the healing process to begin in your clients.

Program Information

Objectives

  1. Assess the dynamics of different types of grief in clients and the healing processes associated with each.
  2. Determine the relationship between traumatic events and grief as it relates to the healing process within clients.

Outline

  • Background
  • The Death Shapes Grief
    • River of Grief
    • Witnessing Grief
    • Pure Grief vs. External Triggers
  • Grief vs. Trauma
  • Positive Psychology
  • Survivor’s Guilt
  • Grief Needs
  • Grief in Therapy
    • Worst and Best Things to Say
  • Pitfalls of Getting Over Loss
  • Healing
    • The Sixth Stage of Grief
  • Complicated Grief
    • Multiple Losses
  • Goals of Grief Work

Target Audience

Psychologists, Addiction Counselors, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Nurses, and other Behavioral Health Professionals

Copyright : 03/23/2018