Acceptance and commitment therapy for grief

You will have access to the recording for 6 months.

If we are lucky enough to find love in our lives – for a partner, a parent, a child or a pet – then we are likely one day to suffer loss, and the pain that inevitably comes with it. This is a universal process, and a natural one. Cultures throughout history have known that compassion, companionship, ritual and practical support are key things that help.

And some people find themselves more ‘stuck’ in grief: it remains at high intensity for many months or years, or they cannot reengage with important areas of their life. Maybe they find ways of coping with their grief that create other problems in their life (withdrawing from others, drink or drugs, preoccupations with specific memories). Extra support is often needed to help them rebuild a life that is fulfilling, even with an important figure missing. There are many well-established forms of professional help used either in the acute stages of grief, or when longer-term difficulties emerge.

The Psychological Flexibility approach (the best-known form being ACT – acceptance & commitment therapy) is based on a ‘universal’ model of how we all react to the circumstances we find ourselves in, especially the difficult ones. In over 800 Randomised Controlled Trials, it has been shown as helpful with a range of life challenges – including physical health conditions such as chronic pain, stress, anxiety and depression, addictions, significant mental health problems, workplace stress, child and adolescent development and others.

ACT can also be hugely helpful in supporting those who are grieving; helping them to deal with the strong feelings and overpowering thoughts that arise, to make sense of this often-overwhelming experience, to find ways of adjusting to a new life while dealing with the doubts and -often – guilt of moving forward.

At the end of this workshop you will be able to:

• Describe the 3 core processes that can get in the way of living life well even under difficult circumstances (such as loss), and the ‘Open, Aware, Engaged’ alternative and how these apply in grief
• Identify how to help people ‘make room for’ difficult thoughts and feelings rather than struggling with them or avoiding them
• Utilise methods to make meaningful links between the experience of emotional pain and the sufferer’s values
• Demonstrate how to respond to guilt at ‘moving forward’
• Describe how to use the stance of compassionate, respectful curiosity to increase engagement

This event requires no prior knowledge of ACT or other Psychological Flexibility approaches and is suitable for a wide range of job roles including counsellors, psychologists, social workers, medical, nursing or AHP staff, spiritual care providers.

In you are interested in a more in-depth intermediate level skills workshop, you can view our workshop Using ACT to support grieving people, with Dr Ray Owen