Understanding Grief and Mourning: Foundational Concepts... (Coralville, IA)

Course Description
Title: Understanding Grief and Mourning: Foundational Concerpts for Clinical Practice

This introductory seminar provides clinicians with a foundational understanding of grief and mourning informed by contemporary grief education literature, with particular influence from the work of Alan D. Wolfelt. The training emphasizes grief as a natural, individualized, multidimensional, and non-linear response to loss rather than a condition to be fixed or resolved.

Participants will explore common grief responses, core principles of mourning, and ethical ways to support grieving individuals within a generalist clinical scope. The seminar includes application to adult grief, including consideration of trauma-related factors that may influence how grief presents in practice.

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this seminar, participants will be able to:

1. Describe grief as a natural, multidimensional, and non-linear response to loss.
2. Summarize central ideas about mourning commonly reflected in grief education.
3. Apply grief-informed principles to adult clinical practice.
4. Recognize how trauma-related factors may influence how grief presents in practice.
5. Describe ethical, grief-informed clinical practices appropriate within a generalist scope of care.

Agenda (we will be applying for 4 CEUs)

• 7:30am - 8am - Attednee Registration/Check-in
• 8am - 12pm - Seminar
• 12pm - Seminar ends

Speaker Bio
Julie Bockenstedt, PhD, LISW, LCSW, is the founder of Grief Counseling & Therapeutic Services, LLC, which she established to address the need for specialized grief support in the Quad Cities. Julie earned her PhD in Social Work from the University of Iowa in 2007 and is licensed in Iowa, Illinois, and Florida. She has nearly three decades of experience as a social worker and has served in a variety of roles, including academia, nonprofit administration, hospice, and direct clinical practice. Julie specializes in grief, loss, and trauma-informed care, and her work is grounded in a compassion-focused, strengths-based, and person-centered approach. She is also a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and has had the privilege of supporting grieving individuals and families across diverse settings and life circumstances. Her work reflects a deep respect for the unique and non-linear nature of grief and a commitment to helping others navigate loss with compassion, understanding, and care.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Kirkwood Community College: The Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa, 2301 Oakdale Boulevard, Coralville, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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