Complicated Grief following Trauma - Identifying and stabilizing the hidden sources of complex trauma

Description: Mental Health Counselors frequently face traumatic loss and death issues in their work with clients as well as personal lives. This certification will cover the psychology of grief and loss relating to traumatic loss after sudden death, suicide, homicide, terminal disease, financial ruin, bankruptcy, job loss from layoff, and relationships shattered by betrayal along with other crisis events that disrupt normal life and lead to prolonged and inconsolable grief.

Many professionals were not clinically trained to provide intervention and recovery of the frequently overlooked clinical diagnosis, “Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder” in DSM5. Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder is a severe and persistent grief and mourning reaction, full of overwhelming stress, loss, deep sadness, and inconsolable grieving. Characterized by longing for the deceased or persistent preoccupation with the deceased accompanied by intense emotional pain (such as sadness, guilt, anger, denial, blame, difficulty accepting the death, feeling one has lost a part of oneself, an inability to experience positive mood, emotional numbness, difficulty in engaging with social or other activities as described by the World Health Organization). DSM5, includes Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) codable as a “severe and persistent grief and mourning reaction” in “Other Specified Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorder” (F43.8). Guidelines for this diagnosis include the occurrence of a “persistent and pervasive grief response characterized by longing for the deceased or persistent preoccupation with the deceased accompanied by intense emotional pain (e.g., sadness, guilt, anger, denial, blame, difficulty accepting the death, feeling one has lost a part of one’s self, an inability to experience positive mood, emotional numbness, difficulty in engaging with social or other activities).” Unresolved complex grief from trauma or traumatic loss can create multiple psychological and physical reactions in people which are resistant to traditional methods of recovery after trauma.

Participants will develop insight into how trauma impacts or ‘freezes’ the grief process with new skills like grief mapping and other techniques counselors can use every day in their work with clients. This two-day certification course is designed for professional counselors, lay counselors, chaplains, and clergy who work with people experiencing complex grief and loss following a traumatic event.

Dwight Bain describes this course as the most useful he has ever found to rapidly manage complex grief and loss, both for practitioners and for their work with clients facing complex grief and trauma. He said, “Complex grief affects every human. Going deep into your own grief journey as a counselor will prepare you to help more people than you could imagine. This course is an emotional healing experience designed to equip you to help others heal from grief.”

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the clinical symptoms of complicated grief after traumatic loss
• Describe factors that hinder the traumatic grief process and lead to other mental health disorders or self-destructive behaviors
• Learn the skills to support grieving people without being overwhelmed from their traumatic loss
• Understand how to build a grief map to guide clients through traumatic loss

Lunch will be provided by Retreat Behavioral Health 

CE Broker Tracking #: 20-1074400

General Credits: 14

(2-day Certification Course)

This event is sponsored by FMHCA, an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider. FMHCA NBCC Provider# 2058. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  FMHCA is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. This course is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, LMHC, LMFT, LCSW – FMHCA CE Broker #: 50-748

About the Presenter:

Dwight Bain guides leaders through change with creative strategy as a Nationally Certified Counselor, Florida Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Leadership Coach in practice over thirty years. Bain is an author and trusted media resource interviewed on over 500 radio and television stations; quoted in over 20 books and 100 newspapers/websites including: New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, WFTV.com, FoxBusiness.com, MSNBC.com and Yahoo.com. He was recognized by Toastmasters as one of the best speakers in Florida and was selected as the Florida Mental Health Counselor of the year in 2019 by FMHCA. Bain has challenged over 3000 audiences toward positive change at organizations like Disney, Toyota, the United States Army, DuPont, the Florida Department of Education, and the United Way. Dwight is a lifelong resident of Orlando where he lives with his wife Sheila and a rescue cat named ‘Scrappy’. After 35 years together they always have suitcases packed ready for their next adventure.