Expanding Your Clinical Skills for a New Era of Grief

“We’re all in this together.” A COVID-19-inspired message of solidarity and strength, chalked on sidewalks, printed on signs in windows, and painted on rocks nestled in the grass. To be sure, the pandemic has woken the world to the acute impact of grief and loss on daily life, as we grapple with the loss of routine and connection and, for many, income.

Some families are also mourning losses due to death, in isolation and at times without the chance to say goodbye. Others have been living with trauma and grief long before COVID, and the pandemic is exponentially compounding their struggle. And while there is no roadmap for how to best help people living with this new kind of daily grief, we do know that understanding grief concepts—and learning effective and practical skill-building activities to help manage it—can make a very real difference.

On Tuesday, September 15, 2020, from 12:00-3:30 pm EDT, the Wendt Center Training Institute will present “Expanding Your Clinical Skills for a New Era of Grief,” a virtual workshop developed for licensed mental health professionals but applicable for professionals who support those who are grieving, such as clergy and lay leaders.

“This workshop will not be COVID-specific,” said Instructor Melissa Sellevaag, LICSW, “but it will address the collective grief experience, including ambiguous grief—the result of the relentless impacts of COVID, isolation, social justice challenges, violence against our black and brown communities, and loss of structure. Grief changes our world, but rather than ‘moving on’ or ‘getting over it,’ we must recognize that we change within the context of our grief experience. We’ll also acknowledge that just as our clients are suffering, so are we … and with the right tools, and by sharing information about the commonalities and normative experiences of grief, we can turn that knowledge into such a powerful source of support. Pain and joy can coexist!”

More information, as well as registration, is available online. As part of the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing, the Wendt Center Training Institute offers customized, trauma-informed workshops that equip mental health professionals and lay leaders with skills to address grief, loss, and trauma in the communities in which they work and live.