Course Fee: $479 (Canadian currency)
A fully comprehensive Coaching Practitioner Certification program.
This practical course is an ideal introduction to an experience that touches everyone’s life – the painful experience of grief and loss. It introduces the coach to the theories and models related to bereavement and the mourning process. It will help you better understand the process of loss, and to walk alongside the mourner on their journey – as they seek to come to terms with, and integrate, their loss. Specifically, this course will explore the following: an introduction to grief coaching; grief and mourning models and rituals; mourning in children and adolescents; accompanying the dying, anticipatory grief and complicated mourning; traumatic death, death by suicide and the loss associated with dementia; the loss of an intimate relationship; the loss of employment and the loss of health.
You are free to commence at a time that suits your schedule and given six months to complete the course. Full tutor support is provided by a coaching mentor. Upon satisfactory completion of the course a certificate will be mailed out to you.
SYLLABUS
Module 1: An Introduction to Grief and Loss Counselling
Topics Studied
- Confronting death/ death anxiety
- Distinguishing between grief and mourning
- Grief: An individual experience
- The Five Stages of Grief Model (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)
- The Cyclical Model (Colin Murray-Parkes)
- General guidelines for supporting the bereaved
- Effective listening skills
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- Discuss reasons why it is hard to discuss death.
- Restate the different stages in the models of grief.
- Summarise general guidelines for supporting the bereaved.
Module 2: Grief and Mourning Models and Rituals
Topics Studied
- A Task-Oriented Model (William J. Worden)
- What to expect when coaching the bereaved
- The value of customs and rituals
- The role of the funeral director
- Some ideas for personalising a loved one’s funeral
- The importance of self-awareness in the coach
- Communicating understanding to the client
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- Apply William J. Worden’s Task-Oriented Model
- Restate the eight ethical questions for mourners.
- Debate the value of customs and rituals.
Module 3: Mourning in Children and Adolescents
Topics Studied
- Children and death: A historical perspective
- How children and adolescents process grief and loss
- Common symptoms of grief and loss in children and adolescents
- Some suggestions for adults who’re supporting grieving children and adolescents
- Children and funerals
- How to establishing a meaningful relationship with young clients
- Popular techniques when working with children and adolescents
- Activities for children and adolescents
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- Describe how children and adolescents process grief and loss.
- Discuss the value of funerals for children and adolescents.
- Recommend activities that are appropriate for using with children and adolescents.
Module 4: Accompanying the Dying, Anticipatory Grief and Complicated Mourning
Topics Studied
- Understanding complicated mourning/ abnormal grieving
- Coaching the dying
- Seven fears of dying
- Some guidelines for supporting the dying
- Understanding anticipatory grief
- Developing a feelings vocabulary
- Exploring the coach’s own emotional world
- The role and value of therapeutic communication
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- List factors which contribute to complicated mourning.
- Summarise the seven fears of the dying.
- Appraise your own emotional world.
Module 5: Traumatic Death, Death by Suicide and the Loss Associated with Dementia
Topics Studied
- Traumatic death
- Factors affecting reactions to a death
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Complicating factors that may compromise the client’s recovery
- Tips for supporting survivors
- Exploring survivor guilt
- Death by suicide
- The grief of the suicide survivor
- Telephone coaching skills
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- Describe survivor guilt.
- Discuss the grief of the suicide survivor.
- Analyze the needs and losses when a loved one has dementia.
Module 6: The Loss of an Intimate Relationship, the Loss of Employment and the Loss of Health
Topics Studied
- Life as a series of losses
- The loss of a marriage (or an intimate relationship)
- Kubler-Ross’ model and relationship loss
- Murray-Parkes’ model and relationship loss
- Typical emotional response to a lost relationship
- The impact on the children
- The loss of employment (including retirement)
- Loss associated with chronic illness or disability
Learning Outcomes and Summary of Objectives
Upon successful completion of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- Apply Kubler-Ross’ and Murray-Parkes’ models to the loss of an intimate relationship, the loss of employment and the loss of health.
- Describe the needs of children whose parents separate.
- Appraise the needs of people who lose their health.
Suggested reading for the course
Worden, J.W. (2018). Grief counselling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. (5th Ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
Duration of the course
The course consists of six knowledge and practice-based learning modules (comprehensive course notes), supplemented with suggested background reading, reflection activities and submission of tutor-marked assignments. There is one marked assignment per module. Courses are offered on a part-time basis and are designed to be completed within six months. Many students prefer to complete their studies in a shorter time frame.