November 6 @ 9:00 am – November 7 @ 4:00 pm PST
This 12-hour telehealth workshop is provided over 2 days.
Traditional grief models may not fully address the complex psychological and physiological impact of sudden or unexpected death. This two-day professional training equips clinicians with the knowledge, confidence, and practical tools to support clients experiencing traumatic grief. Grounded in psychology, traumatology, and thanatology, the training explores nervous system regulation, emotional stabilization, grief attacks, guilt and regret, uncertainty, identity, and rebuilding safety after loss. Participants learn trauma informed interventions drawn from DBT, CBT, narrative therapy, and contemporary grief models, with opportunities for hands on application through case examples and interactive exercises.
Participants will learn:
Approaches for creating meaning and purpose after loss
Strategies for creating safety and stabilization
Techniques for emotional regulation
Facilitation tools for continued bonds
Skills to assist clients living with long term loss
Clinical interventions from Narrative Therapy, DBT, and CBT
Schedule:
Friday, November 6, 2026 – 9:00am – 4:00pm
Saturday, November 7, 2026 – 9:00am – 4:00pm
There will be two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute break for lunch each day – CEs will not be provided for those times.
Location: Online via Zoom
Cost: $425.00
Group Discount: Enter GRP-TGL for groups of 3 or more registering together to earn a 10% discount on each registration.
Enter STD-TGL for students to earn a 25% discount on registration. Verification of student status required.
Course Description
When a client endures a sudden or unexpected death, traditional grief counseling models often fall short of addressing the depth of pain and trauma these losses create. As a result, many clinicians feel underprepared to meet the unique needs of those living with traumatic grief. A traumatic loss often involves both emotional devastation and physiological dysregulation, requiring clinicians to understand how trauma and loss intersect in the body, mind, and spirit. This 2-day professional training provides clinicians with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to effectively support clients in the face of life’s most devastating endings.
The course curriculum is based on Dr. Jennifer R.Levin’s, LMFT, FT recent Traumatic Loss Workbook: Powerful Skills for Navigating Grief After a Sudden or Unexpected Death.Using the workbook, participants will gain greater insight about the client experience in the aftermath of traumatic loss and learn interventions to create safety, work with difficult emotions, and provide support throughout the entire continuum of traumatic loss. Course sessions combine structured presentation with interactive activities to provide participants a comprehensive understanding of the unique manifestations of traumatic grief including the ways it differs from normative bereavement. The training integrates principles from the fields of psychology, traumatology and thanatology, case examples, and teaches trauma-informed interventions drawn from different theoretical approaches. Clinicians will learn to recognize the multidimensional responses to grief and trauma, stabilize dysregulated nervous systems, and guide clients through the ongoing process of rebuilding safety and identity after loss.
Each session offers both conceptual learning and hands-on application utilizing evidence-based techniques. Interventions include skills from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and emotional regulation techniques to enhance clinicians’ toolbox for working with clients during acute periods of trauma or during intense experiences often termed “grief attacks.” Concepts from narrative therapy will be utilized to help clients create alternate stories or “new narratives” to cope with the multitude of unanswered questions and elevated levels of uncertainty often associated with unexpected or sudden death. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques are used to work with distorted thoughts about blame, guilt, and regret which often hinder steps toward healing. Finally theoretical models from thanatology including the Dual Processing Model of Bereavement and Growing around Grief are reviewed to help clinicians guide clients’ to conceptualize and create a meaningful future.
This course is ideal for mental health professionals who want to expand their competence and confidence in working with traumatic loss. Participants will leave with new clinical interventions and clarity about their role in guiding clients through the non-linear process towards healing. At the end of the course, clinicians will be better equipped to provide compassionate, informed, and long-term support to individuals grieving the sudden or unexpected death of a loved one.
Course Learning Objectives – Click Here
Target Audience
This training is designed for health professionals, primarily mental health clinicians, counselors, and therapists, who work with individuals coping with sudden or unexpected death and traumatic grief.It is also highly relevant for professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of grief across diverse contexts and enhance their ability to provide trauma-informed, evidence-based care to clients navigating complex bereavement experiences.
Attendance and Participation
If there is an emergency or other unforeseen reason to miss a training session, a review of the video for the training session can be provided in order to obtain the missing content. However, much of the workshop is experiential and essential for learning and implementation.
For online workshops, maintaining camera webcams is expected for greater integrative interaction.
Continuing Education
Certificates of attendance will be provided to each participant who completes the full 12-hour training. Note: No partial continuing education credit can be given. It is required that attendees are present for then entire training in order to receive continuing education credit.
CAMFT CEs – 12: Choices Counseling & Skills Center is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT#128621) to sponsor continuing professional education for MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs and LPCCs. Course meets the qualifications for 12 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LEPs and LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
NBCC CEs – 12: Choices Counseling & Skills Center has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7321. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Choices Counseling & Skills Center is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Format and Teaching Methods
This workshop will use reading assignments, PowerPoint presentations, exercises, role play, videos, homework assignments, lecture, demonstration, and practice to assist in effective practice of the interventions for traumatic grief.
Dr. Levin has over 15 years of clinical experience in grief and loss. She is the author of The Traumatic Loss Workbook: Powerful Skills for Navigating the Grief Caused by a Sudden or Unexpected Death. She is also the host of the podcast Untethered: Healing the Pain from a Sudden or Unexpected Death. To learn more about Jennifer please visit www.drjenniferlevin.com.
Policies
Workshop Accommodations, Ethics and Grievance Policies
Cancellations and Refunds: Cancellations that are made more than 14 days prior to the start of the workshop are fully refundable. The deadline to cancel is 7 days prior to the start of the workshop. $250.00 of your training registration fee is non-refundable if canceled before that deadline. Refunds for payments made by credit card can be re-issued to the card utilized, if canceling within 60 days of payment. Refunds made for payments made by check, or after 60 days from original credit card payment, will receive mailed checks within 15 days of the start of the workshop.
Substitution Policy: Substituting participants must be requested in writing within 7 days of the start of the workshop.
