Grief and Loss Amidst COVID-19: Empowering Clients to Overcome Unprecedented Challenges

Brief Overview:

The COVID-19 pandemic has become the leading cause of death worldwide. New estimates project that the worldwide death toll will reach almost 3 million by January 1, 2021. Grief and traumatic loss during COVID-19 encompasses more than COVID-related patient death. Rates of death by suicide and drug-related deaths by overdose deaths have increased during the pandemic. Physical distancing and other COVID-19 protocols have engendered ambiguous losses including the absence of traditional/cultural rituals in the grieving process, abrupt separation from friends and loved ones, job and financial loss, loss of child care, the absence of significant changes in family roles and division of labor cause significant relationship strain, hamper relationship intimacy, and shift identity. Many who have contracted COVID-19 are socially stigmatized. The prolonged nature of these losses place clients at risk for complex bereavement disorder as well as other prolonged psychiatric symptoms and isolation. Dr. Bethea-Walsh will discuss use therapeutic tools to support clients to manage suffering and to make meaning in the mourning process.

Target Audience: Helping professionals who have received introductory MI training and who counsel clients in making change (i.e., Mental Health and Addictions Counselors, Psychologists, Social Workers, Physicians, Nurses, Managers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Probation/Corrections Officers and Counselors, Peer Recovery Support, Health/Life Coaches, Resident Assistants, Educators, Behavior Specialists, Drug Court Providers, Pastoral Counselors, etc.).

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss different theoretical frameworks for grief and loss.

2. Define the different types of grief and loss.

3. Examine grief and loss unique to the COVID-19 pandemic.

4. Discuss potential mental health outcomes related to pandemic losses.

5. Utilize 3 interventions to support clients in adapting to multiple losses.

6. Identify cultural issues that impact the grief process.

7. Develop a plan for how to integrate skills into clinical practice.