ADEC offers a selection of Specialty Workshops on a variety of topics related to the field of thanatology. These specially designed courses provide an in-depth look at the topics and issues of greatest importance in grief and bereavement.
Specialty Workshops are scheduled for Wednesday April 10 before the main conference, Thursday April 11 through Saturday April 13, 2023.
MEMBERS: To receive your ADEC Member Discount, you must be logged into your account when you order. Otherwise, you will be charged Non-Member rates.
NON-MEMBERS: Want to join? Click here.
For 2024, these workshops will be presented in person, only.
ADEC reserves the right to cancel any specialty workshop that does not attain minimum registration numbers. Registrants in a cancelled course will be informed and given the option to choose another session or receive a refund.
Full Day - In Person
Wednesday April 10, 2024
9:00 am - 4:45 pm Central Time Zone / Houston, TX
6 CEU's available (additional fee)
Making Sense of Funerals: Why They Matter and How We Can Improve Them
Presenters: Harold Ivan Smith, DMin, FT; William G. Hoy, DMin, FT
Presentation Level: Intermediate Advanced - Full Day
Description: Bereaved families and communities have gathered in the face of death from time immemorial to honor their dead and derive support from each other in their grief. Though some groups have ceased using them, understanding their use helps us better understand populations of underserved people who use them more frequently. This innovative workshop will be held onsite at Houston’s National Museum of Funeral History hosted by two of ADEC’s leading authorities on funerals and their use in bereavement. They will weave together presentations about funeral customs with actual hands-on experience visiting the displays of the museum. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience this deep blending of history and funeral artifacts with proven clinical application.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to
- Describe the importance of effective memorial ceremonies for the grief process
- Explain major cross-cultural anchors of memorial ceremonies, proving examples of each
- Utilize strategies for using creative rituals and the discussion of ceremonies in bereavement support and clinical practice
Presenters:
(Left) Harold Ivan Smith, DMin, FT and (Right) William (Bill) Hoy, DMin, FT
Harold Ivan Smith, DMin, FT served as a bereavement specialist for eighteen years on the teaching faculty of Saint Luke’s Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri, and is now a celebrant for Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries in Palm Springs, California. Dr. Smith has presented scholarly papers at over twenty ADEC annual conferences. Known as a storyteller, his major research area is on grief and bereavement in the White House. His published books number more than 40 with a diversity of leading publishers including Westminster John Knox, Beacon Press, Routledge, and Augsburg. He is now finishing a work on the life and losses of President Harry Truman.
With nearly 40 years walking alongside the dying and bereaved, William G. Hoy, DMin, FT has been Clinical Professor of Medical Humanities at Baylor University since 2012. Prior to his move to Texas, Dr. Hoy directed the bereavement program at Pathways Volunteer Hospice in Long Beach, CA for nearly 17 years. He is author of more than 200 articles and book chapters and seven books including his newest volume, Creating Meaning through Funerals due for release by Routledge at the ADEC conference.
MEMBERS: To receive your ADEC Member Discount, you must be logged into your account when you order. Otherwise, you will be charged Non-Member rates.
NON-MEMBERS: Want to join? Click here.
Note: Cost includes fee for the tour of the National Museum of Funeral History
Half Day - Morning - In Person
Wednesday April 10, 2024
9:00 am - 12:15 pm Central Time Zone / Houston, Texas
3 CEU's available (additional fee)
Morning Option: Imaginal Dialogues with the Deceased: Principles and Practice
Presenters: Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, Carolyn Ng, PsyD
Presentation Level: Advanced - Half-Day - AM
Description: Meaning-focused grief therapy often works with the continuing bond with the deceased, both to reaffirm the relationship in a non-physical form, and to resolve unfinished business in relationships that are more ambivalent. Symbolic dialogues with the dead can promote both of these aims. We will begin by clarifying the conditions necessary for clients to deepen into the subjective reality of this work, and then formulate advanced guidelines for focusing on visual and vocal cues for directing the client’s performance and facilitating processing. Finally, these principles are demonstrated in a video case study of imaginal dialogue with a bereaved son before concluding with guided practice with the method.
Learning objectives:
- Describe the structural phases of imaginal dialogues and the circumstances under which they can be effectively utilized as a powerful experiential intervention in grief therapy
- Discuss the essential process-oriented skills required by the therapist to deepen the client into such work, foster realignment of the relationship with the deceased and ensure safety in entry into and exit from the encounter
- Adapt imaginal dialogues for use in both in-office and telehealth settings
Presenters:
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, and maintains an active consulting and coaching practice. He also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, which provides online training internationally in grief therapy. Neimeyer has published 35 books, including New Techniques of Grief Therapy: Bereavement and Beyond and The Handbook of Grief Therapies, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Studies. The author of over 600 articles and book chapters and a frequent workshop presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process. Neimeyer served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his scholarly contributions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both ADEC and the International Network on Personal Meaning.
Carolyn Ng, PsyD, FT, MMSAC, RegCLR maintains a private practice, Anchorage for Loss and Transition, for training, supervision and therapy in Singapore, while also serving as an Associate Director of the Portland Institute. Previously she served as Principal Counsellor with the Children’s Cancer Foundation in Singapore, specialising in cancer-related palliative care and bereavement counselling. She is a master clinical member and approved supervisor with the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC) and a Fellow in Thanatology with the Association of Death Education and Counselling (ADEC), USA, as well as a consultant to a cancer support and bereavement ministry in Sydney, Australia. She is certified in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and Narrative Therapy, and holds an MA in Pastoral Ministry from Trinity Theological Seminary in the USA. She is also a trained end-of-life doula and advanced care planning facilitator. Find out more at: www.anchorage-for-loss.org.
MEMBERS: To receive your ADEC Member Discount, you must be logged into your account when you order. Otherwise, you will be charged Non-Member rates.
NON-MEMBERS: Want to join? Click here.
Half Day - Afternoon - In Person
Wednesday April 10, 2024
1:30 pm - 4:45 pm Central Time Zone / Houston, Texas
3 CEU's available (additional fee)
Presenter: J. William Worden, Ph.D. ABPP
Presentation Level: Intermediate - Half Day - PM
Description: When people experience multiple losses from death in a short period of time, they often experience what Kastenbaum calls “Bereavement Overload.” Grief may seem overwhelming and cause an individual to shut down or manifest itself in physical and psychological symptoms. “Bereavement Overload” may also occur when an individual experiences several losses in a short time frame, or when several losses occur in one event, such as an auto accident or natural disaster. Strategies for helping individuals experiencing “bereavement overload” to jump-start the process in a way that feels safe and enables them to better process their grief will be discussed. Ten cases from the presenter’s practice will illustrate the issues involved and appropriate treatment interventions.
Learning Objectives:
- To identify the key issues stemming from multiple losses
- To understand how multiple losses may result in “Bereavement Overload”?
- To learn strategies to help mourners process multiple losses without getting stuck, or if stuck, how to move forward towards the best adaptation to the losses.
J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and holds academic appointments at the Harvard Medical School and at the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology in California. He is also Co-Principal Investigator of the Harvard Child Bereavement Study, based at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Recipient of 5 major NIH grants, his research and clinical work over 40 years has centered on issues of life-threatening illness and life-threatening behavior.
Dr. Worden has lectured and written on topics related to terminal illness, cancer care, and bereavement. He is the author of Personal Death Awareness; Children & Grief: When a Parent Dies; and is co-author of Helping Cancer Patients Cope. His book Grief Counseling & Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner, now in its fifth edition, has been translated into 14 foreign languages and is widely used around the world as the standard reference on the subject. Dr. Worden’s clinical practice is in Laguna Niguel, California.
MEMBERS: To receive your ADEC Member Discount, you must be logged into your account when you order. Otherwise, you will be charged Non-Member rates.
NON-MEMBERS: Want to join? Click here.
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