GC 675
research & clinical practice in grief counseling
Course Information
This is a comprehensive CE course that describes, explains and evaluates the most current research in the areas of grief theory, bereavement and specialized grief therapy modalities. Analyzing the major themes in the literature on these topics,, the course provides the practitioner with a concrete connection between research and practice through the use of case studies, descriptive analysis of evidence based treatment plans, and comparative analysis of approaches to age, gender and cultural groups. You will read the analyses of these topics by the leaders in the field of thanatology and grief therapy, including Robert Niemeyer, Colin Murray Parks, William Worden, Kenneth Doka, John Shep Jeffreys and many more. Among the topics described and applied are meaning reconstruction in the grieving process; new interpretations of attachment and coping theories; the two track model of bereavement; task based approaches to bereavement; and contextual issues that arise when dealing with grief.
The course presupposes and builds on your knowledge gained in previous courses in grief counseling. This comprehensive course provides the student with 60 CE contact hours of education. Course Code: GC 675
Pre-requisite to course enrollment: You must be currently certified as a Grief Counselor by the American Academy of Grief Counseling to enroll into this course. This course is a required course in the curriculum for the Grief Support Practitioner Certification Program.
Instructor/Course Author: Dr. Rosemary A. Castelli
Link to Resume: click here
Email: lastingremembrances@gmail.com
TIME FRAME: You are allotted three years from the date of enrollment, to complete this continuing education course. There are no set time-frames, other than the three year allotted time. If you do not complete the courses within the three year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an "incomplete" will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the courses after this three-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.
TEXTBOOKS: There is one required textbook for this course:
Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (Series in Death, Dying and Bereavement). Editors: Robert Neimeyer, Darcy Harris, Howard Winokuer, Gordon Thornton. New York: Routledge, 2011 ISBN-10: 045884810 ISBN-13: 978-0415884815
Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here
GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 60 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by the and options for completing additional course work to achieve a passing score, will be presented.
BOARD APPROVALS: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 60 Contact Hours. Access information
This course, which is approved by the Florida State Board Of Nursing (CE Provider # 50-11975) also has the following Board of Nursing Approvals, for 60 contact hours of CE:
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here
Online Classroom Resouces and Tools
* Examination Access: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as "open book" tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at anytime and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.
* Student Resource Center: there is a link for access to a web page "Student Resource Center." The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.
* Online Evaluation: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.
* Faculty Access Information: you will have access to your instructor's online resume/biography, as well as your instructor's specific contact information.
* Additional Learning Materials: some faculty have prepared additional "readings" and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
1. Review and describe the historical landscape of loss.
2. Interpret and analyze current conceptions of the grief response.
3. Analyze and assess meaning reconstruction in bereavement.
4.Connect the principles of meaning reconstruction with its practical application to grievers.
5. Analyze and assess contemporary interpretations of attachment and coping theory.
6. Relate both the theoretical and clinical implications for providing therapeutic services to those bereaved individuals who are insecurely attached.
7. Apply an attachment theory perspective to the concept of “continuing bonds” in bereavement.
8. Define, interpret and apply the Two Track Model of Bereavement.
9. Assess and apply task based approaches to counseling the bereaved.
10. Identify the impact of gender and socialization on grieving styles.
11. Define and explain varying grieving styles.
12. Explain spousal grief in later life.
13. Identify and analyze parenting challenges after the death of a child.
14. Describe bereavement characteristics in children after the death of a sibling.
15. Relate an agency based service program for bereaved children and families.
16. Explain the characteristics of the Family Bereavement Program (FBP).
17. Review current approaches to treating complicated grief.
18.Define the meaning of ambiguous loss and chronic sorrow.
19.Describe and analyze the clinical implications and recommendations for working with those who have ambiguous loss and chronic sorrow.
20. Clarify the disruptive effects of violent killing on the narrative processing of grief.
21. Relate the characteristics of bereavement after disasters.
22. Describe and analyze the research and clinical interventions for dealing with disaster bereavement.
23. Describe and analyze the grief experience of victims of terrorism.
24. Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between terrorist grief and other forms of traumatic grief.
25. Summarize the research on bereavement after suicide and how it differs from other bereavement patterns after a death.
26. Identify and understand the concept of “nonfinite loss.”
27. Explain how the “coming out” process for GLBT youth is both a literal and symbolic grieving process.
28. Explain the effects of traumatic death in the U.S. military.
29. Relate the salient features of Family Therapy for the bereaved.
30. Explore the value of the expressive arts therapy in grief resolution.
31. Evaluate the value and effectiveness of bereavement rituals.
32. Relate the value of creating a “legacy of the loved one.”
33. Describe and evaluate the Hospice Model of bereavement care.
34. Explore the roles of culture and ethnicity in understanding bereavement patterns.
35. Evaluate the role of religion and spirituality in adjusting to bereavement.
36. Explore how the internet is affecting how the bereaved are dealing with grief.
37. Explore and analyze the ethical and grief dimensions associated with end of life decisions.
COURSE CONTENT:
Brief Abstract of Content:
Contemporary Conceptualizations and Types of Grief and Bereavement:
1. Meaning Reconstruction
2. Attachment and Coping Theory
3. Changing Bond Theory
4.The Two Track Model of Bereavement
5. Task Based Approaches to Bereavement
6. The Influence of Gender and Socialization on Grieving Styles
7. Spousal Bereavement
8. The Death of a Child and Parental Challenges
9. Sibling Death
10. Approaches to Complicated Grief
11. Ambiguous Loss and Chronic Sorrow
12. Concepts in Violent Death, Natural Disasters, and Terrorism
13. Suicide Bereavement
14. Non-finite Loss
15.Grief and Loss in Specific Populations, i.e. GLBT, Military and Pet Loss Groups
Specialized Therapeutic Modalities for Dealing with Death, Loss and Grief:
1. Family Therapy
2. Grief Therapy and the Expressive Arts.
3. The Role of Ritual in Bereavement.
4. The Hospice Model of Bereavement Care.
5. Dealing with Cultural and Ethnic Differences in Grief.
6. The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Dealing with Grief.
7. Ethical Dimensions Connected with Dying and Grief.
8. Building Bridges Between Research and Practice.