GRIEF Approach: A Comprehensive Treatment Model or Traumatic Loss

This virtual training will be held over two days on Wednesday, March 5th from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and Thursday, March 6th from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM via Zoom.

Registering using form below ↓ will sign participants up for both training dates, and participants will receive access to the Zoom link for both training dates in a separate email as we get closer to the training dates.

“She was no longer wresting with the grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts.” – George Eliot

Designed for adult individuals, Grief Recovery with Individualized Evidence-Based Formulation Approach (GRIEF Approach) leans on existing evidence-based strategies through a module-based approach that addresses heterogeneous mental health correlates of violent loss (homicide, suicide, traffic crash) in one streamlined and comprehensive approach informed by both trauma and grief research fields. GRIEF Approach targets symptoms underlying three main mental health difficulties commonly associated with traumatic loss: post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, and prolonged grief as well as tailoring the modules for applicability to violent loss based upon grief and violent loss literature. A thorough assessment of symptoms with a multicultural lens informed by sociocultural context is warranted to guide modules of intervention. This intervention was developed to be comprehensive yet flexible to allow accommodation for prioritizing and targeting various symptom presentations unique to each survivor. The GRIEF Approach model includes 8 modules provided over 12–20 sessions.

This workshop focuses on the intervention objectives and practice elements contained within each module. This training provides an understanding of the varied responses to traumatic loss, reviews of the latest research on recovery trajectories, and highlights risk factors to recovery. Assessment driven conceptualization to guide intervention strategies is discussed. Participants learn empirically supported therapeutic techniques in working with long-term recovery and treatment of prolonged grief responses. The interactive workshop involves video demonstrations and hands-on exercises designed to teach clinicians how to implement the treatment.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand common trauma and grief responses to traumatic loss (homicide, suicide, traffic crash) and in context of both and individual and sociocultural perspective.

2. Distinguish between prolonged grief, depression, and PTSD and ways to tailor an individualized treatment plan based upon symptom presentation.

3. Describe several evidence based strategies (e.g.., meaningful behavioral activation, therapeutic exposure, revising bonds) for trauma and grief difficulties.

Questions: Contact Julianne McLaughlin, Manager of Suicide Prevention, at (800) 464-5767 x2318 or mspp@namimaine.org (*be sure to specify which event you’re inquiring about)

Event Attendance: We are pleased to offer this training to public participants located in Maine.

*This training was supported [in part] by grant number 1H07SM089706-01 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of SAMHSA or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.)

Trainers: Dr. Alyssa Rheingold and Dr. Jamison Bottomley

Alyssa Rheingold, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, Professor and Associate Director of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center and directs the Mindfulness Center within the Medical University of South Carolina’s Health and Wellness Institute. Further, she is the Director of the Preparedness, Response & Recovery Division of the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center. Dr. Rheingold has been funded for both service and research projects by CDC, NIH, OVW, VAWA, VOCA, SAMHSA, and OVC. She has published over 125 peer reviewed articles and book chapters in the area of trauma, interpersonal violence, traumatic grief, resiliency, mindfulness, telehealth technology, and anxiety. She is a co-author of GRIEF Approach. Recovery with Individualized Evidence-Based Formulation Approach (GRIEF Approach) leans on existing evidence-based strategies through a module-based approach that addresses heterogeneous mental health correlates of violent and/or sudden loss (in one streamlined and comprehensive approach informed by both trauma and grief fields.

Jamison S. Bottomley, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and Research Assistant Professor at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (NCVC), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Following the completion of his graduate training at The University of Memphis and predoctoral internship at the Charleston Consortium, Dr. Bottomley completed a two-year NIMH postdoctoral fellowship in traumatic stress studies at the NCVC. Dr. Bottomley’s program of research centers around the study of traumatic loss (i.e., bereavement following sudden, violent, or volitional causes of death), including the impact of social stressors and substance use on health outcomes secondary to traumatic loss, as well as treatment development and optimization. His program of research has been generously supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). In his spare time, Dr. Bottomley enjoys all things outdoors, but he especially loves spending time on the beach or in the ocean with his wife and son.