Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC
Losses are a major reason why chemically dependent clients use chemicals, and issues around loss are often a major cause of relapse. This interactive, skill-building workshop will prepare participants to help chemically dependent clients cope with the wide range of losses they experience, including: The loss that accompanies giving up alcohol and other drugs; death of a parent, child, or sibling; ambivalent deaths; unspeakable deaths; separation/divorce; parental abandonment; the end of an addictive relationship; loss of custody of their children; evictions; loss of dreams; loss of employment; deterioration in physical functioning; etc. Topics covered include: Grief counseling with a focus on addictions; Types of losses chemically dependent clients grieve; How to do a grief inventory; Unspeakable deaths; First degree grief secrets; Personal characteristics of effective grief counselors; Gender differences in grief work and implications for substance abuse counseling; Story telling as grief work; The stages of grief and the role of the counselor; The work of Kubler-Ross revisited; and The termination phase of therapy with chemically dependent clients as grief work.
Objectives
- Describe the wide range of losses that chemically dependent clients experience.
- Discuss the basics of grief counseling with a special emphasis on the addictions.
- Compile fifteen strategies for helping chemically dependent clients cope with loss.
Target Audience: Clinical personnel, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, educators. Introductory to Intermediate level. CE credits offered = 1.5 contact hours