Please join for workshop with Jennifer A. Gregg, PhD May 29, 2025, from 2:00-5:00 PM EST includes 3 CE credits and 2 months access to recordings.
ACT for Grief and Loss - Nachas Consulting
Description: Loss, including the loss of those we love the most, is an inherent part of being a human being. However, the cultural messages we receive about death, dying, grief, and loss treat these as rare problems to be guarded against, overcome, or avoided. So, while loss is a reality of human experience, few people have effective tools for coping when they encounter it.
Because of these same cultural messages, therapists often find themselves at a loss for how to help people cope with grief and loss. We may inadvertently find ourselves colluding with the world to help patients feel less pain, to be less overwhelmed by grief and loss, or to find a way to “the other side” of grief. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic approach that offers a new approach to coping with grief. Using the model, clinicians can help clients develop important skills that allow them to:
- Increase awareness of specific difficult thoughts and feelings associated with grief and loss
- Reduce automatic, avoidant responding to grief and pain to allow for more psychological behavioral flexibility
- Enhance vitality and meaningful living, even in the context of profound grief and loss.
Instructor: Jennifer Gregg is a professor and a psychologist with a specialization in psycho-oncology and end-of-life care. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology under Steven C. Hayes, the originator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She has been researching, teaching, and training professionals in ACT since 1995, and is a peer-reviewed ACT trainer who is passionate about disseminating ACT principles, and she has published three books for the public on ACT. Clinically she has helped thousands of patients, caregivers, and family members live with vitality through illness, death, loss, and grief.