Grief & Loss Across the Lifespan Training
Thursday, November 21, 2024 | Online via Zoom

Join the Blue Cross® and Blue Shield® of Minnesota Center for Rural Behavioral Health for a clinical training on grief and loss across the lifespan!

Summary: Grief is an expected response to loss - whether death or otherwise - at any point in the lifespan. The presentations on this training day will include information on navigating grief and loss across the lifespan with specific information focusing on children, early, middle, and older adults. Participants will gain tangible tools for discussing death and grief with clients as well as exploring their own relationship to grief and loss.

Cost: $89 (Early bird price of $79 if registered before October 20)

Earn 6 CEUs!

• CEU's pending approval by the Minnesota boards of Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, Behavioral Health and Therapy, and Psychology as well as licensing boards in SD, ND, and WI. (Awaiting approval for all)

Morning Session | 9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan: Childhood Through Early Adulthood
Brittany Squillace, MA, LMFT

Deaths and other losses occur across the lifespan. Developmentally, we understand death and grief differently as we learn and grow. This presentation will provide education on how to talk to children about death and grief, as well as how grief affects the entire family. Participants will gain an understanding of how grief manifests into early adulthood and strategies for working with clients experiencing grief. 

• Learning Objectives:
  1. Gain understanding on how to implement accurate language and other skills when addressing grief with clients.
  2. Discuss individuals experiences of grief and its impact on interpersonal relationships, particularly within the family system.
  3. Identify 3-4 factors that influence how individuals learn and process grief during childhood and young adulthood.

Afternoon Session | 12:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan: Middle through Late Adulthood
Tamara Statz, MA, LMFT, FT

While we experience grief and loss due to deaths or other circumstances across our lifespans, certain experiences are more common as we age. This presentation will focus on common grief and loss experiences for middle-age through older adults, ranging from caregiving, retirement, loss of parents and friends, and more. Strategies for navigating grief with adult/older adult clients will be covered, as well as personal exploration into our relationship to grief and loss.

• Learning Objectives:
  1. Describe common life experiences of grief and loss for middle age to older adults.
  2. Discuss 2-3 contemporary grief models to help guide conversations with grieving adults.
  3. Build empathy, compassion, and understanding for our older adult clients/patients who are experiencing grief and loss.

 
Meet Your Speakers:


Brittany Squillace, MA, LMFT is a mental health therapist and founder of Best Self Therapy. Brittany’s mission through Best Self Therapy is to instill hope in grieving adults to change the way they view, talk about, and navigate grief; allowing them to live a better life as their best self. Through her specialty of grief and loss, Brittany guides clients in making meaning of their losses and redefine and maintain their relationship(s) with the deceased. Brittany’s grief specialization also includes guiding clients in healing ambiguous/ living losses (such as the losses experienced through divorce, loss of identity, grieving a loved one who is still physically present but emotionally/mentally absent, loss of job, losses that may come with being a new parent, etc.). Brittany values creating a safe and welcoming space, allowing clients to discover how to continue living as their best selves while honoring your unique grief journey.
 
 

Tamara L. Statz, MA, LMFT, FT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in St. Paul, Minnesota. For the past 11 years, Tamara has provided clinical services to adult individuals, couples, families, and groups with a focus on aging, chronic and terminal illness, grief and loss, caregiving, and dementia. Tamara holds a Fellow in Thanatology designation from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) which signifies expertise in death, dying, and bereavement. Tamara is adjunct faculty at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in the masters in Counseling and Psychological Services Program. She is also a board-approved clinical supervisor for individuals seeking independent clinical licensure in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is passionate about supporting individuals as they age, caregivers as they support their family members, and students and new professionals entering the field of mental health care.
 

Not able to attend November 21? 
No problem.  Register for the recorded session and a link to view the recorded session will be emailed to you after the November 21st training.

Registration Questions:  Email workforce@mnsu.edu or call 507-389-1094
Training Questions:  Email elizabeth.harstad.3@mnsu.edu