Course Fee: $479 (Canadian currency) includes ebook
This practical course is an ideal introduction to an experience that touches everyone’s life – the painful experience of grief and loss. It is designed to suit the needs of the new counselling student, and also people who are working in this field as therapists, counsellors, teachers, carers, health care professionals and ministers.
It introduces the student to the theories and models related to bereavement and the mourning process. It also teaches essential counselling skills that are crucial when working with this client group. It will help you better understand the process of loss, and prepare you to support the client on their journey as they seek to come to terms with, and integrate, their loss.
Specifically, this course will explore the following: an introduction to grief and loss counselling; grief and mourning models and rituals; mourning in children and adolescents; accompanying the dying, anticipatory grief and complicated mourning; traumatic death, death by suicide and the loss associated with dementia; the loss of an intimate relationship; the loss of employment and the loss of health.
There is no prior knowledge or experience required to embark on this relevant certificate course. You are free to commence at a time that suits your schedule – and continue at your pace for a period of six months. Full tutor support is provided for the course.
Students will also receive a copy of the e-book Exploring loss: A workbook.
Note: The Online Counselling College teaches and uses Egan’s The Skilled Helper Model.
SYLLABUS
Module 1: An Introduction to Grief and Loss Counselling
Topics Studied
• What is counselling?
• The therapeutic relationship
• Confronting death/ death anxiety
• Distinguishing between grief and mourning
• Grief: An individual experience
• The Five Stages of Grief Model (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)
• The Cyclical Model (Colin Murray-Parkes)
• General guidelines for supporting the bereaved
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Describe the essential qualities in a therapeutic relationship.
• Restate the different stages in the models of grief.
• Summarise general guidelines for supporting the bereaved.
Module 2: Grief and Mourning Models and Rituals
Topics Studied
• A Task-Oriented Model (William J. Worden)
• Grief and mourning under the lens (What to expect when counselling the bereaved)
• The value of customs and rituals
• The role of the funeral director
• Some ideas for personalising a loved one’s funeral
• The importance of self-awareness in the counsellor
• Communicating understanding to the client
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Apply William J. Worden’s Task-Oriented Model
• Restate the eight ethical questions for mourners.
• Debate the value of customs and rituals.
Module 3: Mourning in Children and Adolescents
Topics Studied
• Children and death: A historical perspective
• How children and adolescents process grief and loss
• Common symptoms of grief and loss in children and adolescents
• Some suggestions for adults who’re supporting grieving children and adolescents
• Children and funerals
• How to establishing a therapeutic relationship with young clients
• Popular counselling techniques when working with children and adolescents
• Therapeutic activities for children and adolescents
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Describe how children and adolescents process grief and loss.
• Discuss the value of funerals for children and adolescents.
• Recommend counselling activities that are appropriate for using with children and adolescents.
Module 4: Accompanying the Dying, Anticipatory Grief and Complicated Mourning
Topics Studied
• Understanding complicated mourning/ abnormal grieving
• Counselling the dying
• Seven fears of dying
• Some guidelines for counselling the dying
• Understanding anticipatory grief
• Developing a feelings vocabulary
• Exploring the counsellor’s own emotional world
• The role and value of therapeutic communication
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• List factors which contribute to complicated mourning.
• Summarise the seven fears of the dying.
• Appraise your own emotional world.
Module 5: Traumatic Death, Death by Suicide and the Loss Associated with Dementia
Topics Studied
• Traumatic death
• Factors affecting reactions to a death
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Complicating factors that may compromise the client’s recovery
• Counselling tips for supporting survivors
• Exploring survivor guilt
• Death by suicide
• The grief of the suicide survivor
• Telephone counselling skills
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Describe survivor guilt.
• Discuss the grief of the suicide survivor.
• Analyze the needs and losses when a loved one has dementia.
Module 6: The Loss of an Intimate Relationship, the Loss of Employment and the Loss of Health
Topics Studied
• Life as a series of losses
• The loss of a marriage (or an intimate relationship)
• Kubler-Ross’ model and relationship loss
• Murray-Parkes’ model and relationship loss
• Typical emotional response to a lost relationship
• The impact on the children
• The loss of employment (including retirement)
• Loss associated with chronic illness or disability
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
• Apply Kubler-Ross’ and Murray-Parkes’ models to the loss of an intimate relationship, the loss of employment and the loss of health.
• Describe the needs of children whose parents separate.
• Appraise the needs of people who lose their health.
Suggested textbook for the course (to be purchased by the student)
Worden, J.W. (2018). Grief counselling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. (5th Ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.