Workshops
Friday, April 26, 2024
10am – 1:30pm CST
Program Title
Navigating Grief and Loss in a Culturally Diverse 21st Century
Location
In-Person Workshop, Hyde Park (Chicago, IL)
*Address will be sent after confirmation of registration and payment
$95 (includes 3 CE hours towards licensure certification/renewal)
Reduced Cost for BIPOC Clinicians: $75
Reduced Cost for Graduate Students: $50
Price:
This session will educate and engage clinicians in the process of trauma-informed and culturally responsive grief work. Presenters will share a variety of theoretical frameworks, creative approaches, and practical applications to support clinicians in gaining awareness and skills to support clients through the processes of grief, mourning, and reconciliation. Participants should come prepared to increase awareness around their own strengths and growing edges within this work. Participants will also gain an understanding and background of dimensions of loss, including working with non-death loss, creative approaches to grief/loss assessments, and potential limitations and risks when engaging in grief work. Special attention will be paid to decolonizing grief work through a culturally responsive approach.
Program Summary
Attendees will increase understanding and background knowledge around understanding loss and identifying types of loss.
Attendees will learn about creative and culturally responsive approaches to grief/loss assessment.
Attendees will learn to use trauma-informed and decolonizing approaches to grief work, including indigenous, spiritual, and creative-arts based grief strategies.
Attendees will engage in an experiential activity to receive hands-on experience with decolonized and trauma-informed grief work.
Key Learning Objectives
Decolonizing grief work involves challenging and reimagining traditional Western approaches to grieving and healing by centering indigenous, cultural, and holistic practices. It involves recognizing how colonization, systemic oppression, and intergenerational trauma have impacted individuals and communities' experiences of grief. Decolonizing grief work prioritizes respect for diverse cultural beliefs, rituals, and ways of processing loss, allowing for more inclusive and empowering approaches to healing. By incorporating decolonial perspectives, individuals can navigate grief in ways that honor their own identities and histories while acknowledging the interconnectedness of all beings and the environment.
Trauma-informed grief work is an approach that emphasizes understanding how trauma can impact an individual's experience of grief and loss. It recognizes that individuals who are grieving may have experienced various forms of trauma in their lives, such as abuse, violence, or other adverse experiences. In trauma-informed grief work, practitioners aim to create a safe, supportive, and empowering environment for individuals to process their grief while considering the potential triggers and complexities that trauma can introduce. This approach involves being sensitive to the ways in which trauma can manifest in grief, addressing potential barriers to healing, and providing appropriate resources and support to help individuals navigate their grief journey with compassion and understanding.
Research
Mullan, J. (2023). Decolonizing Therapy. Oppression, Historical Trauma, and Politicizing Your Practice (1st ed.) Norton Professional Books. ISBN 978-1-324-01916-9
Kuehn, Philip D., "Cultural Coping Strategies and their Connection to Grief Therapy Modalities for Children: An Investigation into Current Knowledge and Practice" (2013). Social Work Master’s Clinical Research Papers. 214. https://ir.stthomas.edu/ssw_mstrp/214
https://oro.open.ac.uk/81640/1/HAMILTON%20et%20al%202022.pdf
https://therapyforblackgirls.com/2024/02/28/session-348-navigating-grief-after-the-loss-of-a-child/
https://www.griefcollected.com/episodes/adrienne-maree-brown
https://www.griefcollected.com/episodes/exploring-ancestral-grief-linda-thai
Presenters’ Biographies
John Sykes, LCSW is the founder and owner of According To Sykes, LLC, a liberation based healing group practice located in the Hyde Park Community in Chicago. As a dedicated integrated therapist, abolitionist, and educator, John is passionate about helping individuals achieve mental and emotional well-being. With nearly 40 years of experience, John specializes in liberation-based healing practices, somatic and embodiment (body-based) work, and trauma specific interventions and methods. John holds a Bachelor of Arts in Youth Services Administration from Northeastern Illinois University and a Master of Arts in Clinical Social Work from Loyola University School of Social work. John is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (IL) who regularly engages in spaces that actively work to unlearn harmful colonial practices, and to better center the impact of racist, oppressive, generational, and systemic factors in people’s daily lived experience. John’s therapeutic approach is rooted in wellness and healing, emphasizing respect and self-determination. John tailors interventions to meet each client's unique needs, fostering a collaborative and empowering therapeutic relationship.
Dr. Pamela Fullerton, Ph.D., is the founder and clinical director of Advocacy & Education Consulting, a counseling and consulting organization dedicated to ensuring social justice and advocacy through equitable access to mental health and well-being services. She is a Latina bilingual Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), a Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapy professional (C-DBT), a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP), a Certified Grief Informed Professional (CGP), and a clinical supervisor and consultant specializing in working with BIPOC communities, undocumented communities, immigration and acculturation, trauma, anxiety, life transitions, and career counseling. In addition to being a professional writer and speaker, Dr. Fullerton is an adjunct instructor in the Counselor Education department at Northeastern Illinois University. She is also a volunteer contributing writer for three publications and runs a nonprofit to support Latinx youth in the Chicagoland area. Dr. Fullerton consults for two behavioral health advisory boards, Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI) and Illinois Unidos/Latino Policy Forum, providing advice and input to assist in promoting health equity and justice initiatives for underserved communities in Illinois.
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Advocacy & Education Consulting has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7273. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Advocacy & Education Consulting is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.