This workshop will help members of the caregiving community explore the critically important topic of supporting people that experience too much loss. Grief overload occurs when someone experiences too many significant losses all at once or in a relatively short period of time. Our human minds and hearts have enough trouble coping with one loss at a time, but when a person has to integrate multiple losses simultaneously, the grief experience has many special features that both need and deserve attention. Come join us and have Dr. Alan Wolfelt take you on a journey into the lessons he has learned when supporting people that have encountered grief overload. 

This compassionate workshop will help anyone who wants to learn more about how to support those who have experienced grief overload. Counselors, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, nurses, and other interested health care professionals helping individuals cope with drug-overdose deaths are encouraged to attend. Regardless of your specific job title or life role, you can and will benefit from this learning experience.

Upon completion of this workshop the participant will be able to:

• Demonstrate sensitivity to the special features of grief overload.
• Explain the essential ingredients of the grief caregiver
• Describe the different forms of grief overload.
• Understand the various dimensions of response to grief overload.
• Learn a model to “companion” not “treat” the grief overload survivor.

Among the content areas to be explored in this workshop are the following:

• Introduction: Acknowledging the Importance of the Topic
• Definition of Grief Overload
• Essential Ingredients of the Grief Caregiver
• Understand the Different Forms of Grief Overload
• Acknowledge Grief Overload and COVID-19
• Reviewing Potential Dimensions of Response
• Introduction to “Companioning” Versus “Treating” Grief Overload
• Facilitating Six Central Needs of Mourning
• “Reconciliation” Versus “Resolution” of Grief
• Warning, Challenge, Reminder, Hope

This is an opportunity to learn some essential information that Dr. Wolfelt has learned in his four decades of “companioning” thousands of people in grief. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a best-selling author about how to integrate grief into your life, your living, and your loving. If you know anyone who would benefit from this opportunity to embrace hope and healing, please let them know about this program. We look forward to having you, your family, and your friends join us. 

Dr. Alan Wolfelt is one of North America’s leading grief counselors and the author of many best-selling books about healing in grief. This compassionate program will acknowledge that loss is an unavoidable part of human life, but it doesn’t have to prevent you from living well. The content of this evening program is based on Dr. Wolfelt’s book, First Aid for Broken Hearts.

Among the content areas to be explored in this program are the following:

• Broken Hearts: A Broader Framework for Loss
• Exploring the “Ripple Effect” of Grief: Loss of Self, Security, Meaning
• Understanding the Value of Convalescence
• Distinguishing Grief from Mourning
• The Unique Influences on Your Grief
• Describing Potential Dimensions of Your Response
• Identifying the Six Central Needs of Mourning
• Understanding Your Self-Care Essentials
• Hope for Your Healing: Reconciliation versus Resolution