COMPLICATED GRIEF WORKSHOP: Suicide Bereavement Clinician Training

6.5 contact hours for licensed social workers & licensed mental health counselors

PRESENTER: John (Jack) Jordan, Ph.D., bereavement and loss specialist founding director (until 2007) of the Family Loss Project, and co-chair of the Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

FOCUS: An overview of the impact of suicide on survivors, and the clinical and support responses that are needed after a suicide occurs.

INTENDED FOR: Any mental health professional or graduate student who provides grief therapy for suicide loss survivors.

OVERVIEW: The suicide of a loved one can have a profound and sometimes devastating impact on those left behind, called suicide loss survivors. Bereavement after suicide may entail high levels of disorientation, guilt, regret, anger, shame, and trauma. Survivors sometimes also find their relationships with other people changed, as they struggle with the social stigma often placed on suicide, and the altered family relationships that have been changed by the feelings of guilt, blame, and failure that suicide may engender. Survivors may also be at risk for elevated rates of complicated grief and future suicidality themselves. All of this makes surviving the suicide of a loved one a potentially life-transforming ordeal that requires a level of support that goes beyond traditional grief counseling. Yet very few mental health training programs devote any time to training clinicians about the challenging work of suicide postvention—helping survivors cope with the tragic loss.

PLEASE NOTE: Registration to this event is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. The registration deadline is Thursday, November 9th at 12 noon ET. Please note that registration will be closed once all of our slots are filled, which may be in advance of this deadline. All registration sales are online only, no exceptions. Thank you for your understanding.