Part of what makes us human is our capacity to construct and live in a world of stories which help define meaning in life and life events. A significant loss or death event disorganizes and disrupts one’s life’s story and challenges individuals to break free from the pain of a story of “how it should have been” to a healing story that incorporates "how it now is."
Narrative therapy is a powerful therapeutic approach which offers the option of "re-storying" the interpretation of significant events such as loss and grief. Narrative therapy offers innovative ways to help clients use stories like a lens to filter, refocus and reshape experiences to create new stories which help make order out of disorder and meaning out of meaninglessness.
This workshop will review core principles of narrative therapy to create a framework for skill building and practical application of specialized therapeutic techniques to use with clients challenged by the emotional crisis of loss and grief. Clinical interventions and tools to assist clients with challenging end of life conversations, strategies to facilitate stories to support the grieving process, considerations of how to help children with their grief narratives and exploration of diversity and ethical perspectives in understanding grief narratives will be addressed.
Registration for this course is closed. Visit the CE Course Catalog for more offerings.
University of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 South University Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106