South East Regional Committee

Present a workshop entitled:

Understanding and Treating Complicated Grief

Presenter: Dr. Susan Delaney is a Clinical Psychologist and Mindfulness teacher. She has been the Bereavement Services Manager at the Irish Hospice Foundation for 15 years and runs the Complicated Grief programme there. Susan trained in Complicated Grief Therapy with Prof Kathy Shear at Columbia University and is part of their International Train - the - Trainers group. She has taught and written extensively in the area of loss and grief and was awarded the title of Fellow in Thanatology by ADEC (Association of Death, Education & Counselling) for her contribution to the field. Ann Dodd holds an MSc in Bereavement Studies and has a particular interest in gender differences in grieving.

Outline: Complicated grief is a largely misunderstood disorder which affects 2% - 5% of bereaved people. About 290,000 people are bereaved in Ireland every year, and between 3,500 and 7,000 people are at risk of developing complicated grief. It is now recognised as a mental health issue and has been included in the American Psychiatric Associationnn's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Research has indicated that a treatment approach such as that developed by American bereavement expert Dr. Kathy Shear - which address the impediments that keep grief from being integrated into someone's like, is effective in helping people come to terms with a difficult reality and facilitates a return to a good level of functioning. Grief never goes away entirely, but it can be transformed and integrated so it no longer dominates someone's life and they can again experience joy and satisfaction. In this workshop therapists will learn how to apply the Shear approach so they can learn how to help their client to get the natural healing process activated so that the grief that was acute becomes integrated in their life.

Training Level: All.

CPD certificates will be emailed to participants after attendance at the Workshop.