Identifying & Supporting Unique Styles for Processing Loss with System Involved Youth & Families

Wendy Kessler, MSW, FT

Training Description

Every person experiencing a significant loss is grieving – regardless of whether one’s loss is the result of death or the end of a relationship or the absence of something we need, trust, or value. Therefore, grief is most universal experience people share and at the same time it is a unique process for each individual griever. Most system involved youth and families experience a significant amount of loss through incidents including, but not limited to, removals of children from homes, changes in placements, deaths, incarceration of caregivers, divorce, and/or loss of culture and community while engaged in the system. While everyone experiences significant loss throughout their lifetime - how we process loss, experience and express emotions, and feel supported varies tremendously. This training will introduce and explain three primary grieving styles, explore complications that arise when grieving styles are unacknowledged, and help participants…