News & Announcements

2019 International Educator Tour - Current Issues and Trends in Grief Support

Tuesday, 2 July 2019

Darcy L. Harris, R.N., R.S.W., Ph.D., FT

The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement is proud to present leading practitioner and active clinician, Dr Darcy Harris as guest speaker for the 2019 International Educator Tour.Dr Harris will present two one-day programs in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney from July 18th - August 02nd 2019 (See list of dates below)

Darcy L. Harris, R.N., R.S.W., Ph.D., FT, is an Associate Professor and the Thanatology Coordinator at King’s University College in London, Canada, where she also maintains a private clinical practice specialising in issues related to change, loss, and transition.  Dr. Harris developed the undergraduate degree program in Thanatology at King’s University College.

She is a series editor for Routledge Publishing Company’s Death, Dying, and Bereavement Series. Her publications include Counting our Losses: Reflecting on Change, Loss, and Transition in Everyday Life (Routledge), Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (Routledge), Principles and Practice of Grief Counselling (Springer), and The Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief: Exploring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Routledge). Her new book, Non-Death Loss and Grief: Context and Clinical Implications (Routledge), will be released at the end of this year.

As an active clinician in bereavement and end-of-life care, Dr Harris will bring her considerable experience in research, theory, practice and training to these highly interactive programs. 

On Day One, we will explore recent research and literature that inform our current understandings about grief and loss, as well as explore how approaches to grief and loss need to adapt to changes in our population and care environments. Special attention will be given to the clinical implications for professionals who work with individuals who experience a wide range and variety of losses. 

On Day Two, we will explore differing ways of working with clients and their grief in the context of cultivating focus and presence when working with grieving individuals whose lives are punctuated by intensity, uncertainty, and pain. The context of these approaches will be grounded in compassion-based therapies, which can be helpful to individuals who are suffering from intense grief. The role of compassion-based approaches for the clinician’s self care will also be introduced.

Workshops will start at 9.30am and finish at 4.30pm.

Both programs will enhance your clinical practice and draws on recent work in several areas including:

1. Defining and describing different types of loss and the unique forms of grief that accompany them.
2. How grief is unique in its recognition, intervention, and clinical implications.
3. Reviewing current research and practice models relevant to supporting grieving individuals.Identifying when grief has gone awry and the clinical practice implications when this occurs.
4. Differentiating between a supportive model versus an interventionist model of responding to grief.
5. Exploring creative approaches to supporting and facilitating the expression of grief. 

Join us in July as we explore current best practice in grief and bereavement care with a renowned expert in the field

For more information, please click here