Monique Mitchell, Ph.D., FT

Keynote: Loss and Grief: Youth in Foster Care

This presentation will discuss the experiences of death and non-death loss for youth in foster care, and how we can use what we have learned from peer grief support programs (which have been operating for over 30 years) to address the unmet needs of this grieving and marginalized youth population. The L.Y.G.H.T. program, a new intervention for grieving youth in foster care will be introduced, and preliminary findings from the program implementation with youth ages 12-16 will be shared.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the importance of addressing and acknowledging loss and grief for youth in foster care.

2. Describe a new peer grief support program for youth experiencing death and non-death loss in foster care.

3. Assess the needs and benefits for implementing a peer grief support program for a marginalized population of youth.

Monique Mitchell’s Handout

Kristin Mitchell, M.A.

What Providers Need to Know Before a Death by Suicide

This session will focus on counselor survivors of suicide loss. It will cover common stages of response that a counselor may experience after the death of a student/client by suicide as well as the impact on the counselor professionally and personally. It will also include information about self-care vs support care and suggestions on how to create a support care plan for counselors.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify common emotional responses of counselor survivors of suicide loss.

2. Recognize impact of suicide loss on counselors professionally and personally.

3. Begin to develop individualized support care plan for counselor survivors.

View presentation here

Aida V. Wells, LICSW

Cultural and Linguistic Grief Support

Cultural and Linguistic Grief Support (Journey Program). This presentation will provide the audience information about how Seattle Children’s Hospital through the Journey Program is building community by using a grief and loss support model that is culturally and linguistically appropriate for those families who otherwise have no access to bereavement support in their own language.

Learning Objectives:

1. Will be able to learn about the needs of Latino grieving parents.

2. Will be able to identify culturally appropriate practices Latino parents use to cope with Grief and Loss.

3. Will demonstrate an understanding of how Latino parents honor their loved ones

Aida Wells Handout A Healing Journey and Constructs of a Mexican American Family. Powerpoint Here

Lynda Cheldelin Fell, M.A.

Compassion Fatigue: Bereavement and Burnout

The bereavement industry is the oldest care-giving profession in the world yet one of the biggest challenges professionals face is how to mitigate career burnout. Through Compassion Fatigue: 10 Ways to Mitigate Career Burnout, Lynda Cheldelin Fell explains the signs of compassion fatigue and teaches 10 self-care modalities, the evidence-based science behind why they work, and how to implement them between clients and in everyday life. Professionals will learn experiential exercises to help them cope with challenging days and protect against burnout down the road.

Learning Objectives:

1.The complementary roles of self-care and resilience.

2.10 Evidence-based modalities that help protect against career burnout.

3. Experiential exercises to help cope with challenging days.

View Lynda Cheldelin Fell’s Presentation here. View the handout here

Jessica McKimmie, M.Div. / Terri Stewart, Ph.D.

LGBTQIA and Incarcerated Youth and Grief

This presentation will cover the complexities that a youth’s queer and/or trans identity may bring to grieving (and healing) processes. The facilitators will invite participants to learn and explore their own identities to unveil ways they may be able to better connect with – and be support to – queer and trans youth. Other intersections with the LGBTQIA+ community that may be discussed: disability, incarceration, poverty, people of color, immigration and citizenship status, and homelessness.

Learning Objectives:

1. Special considerations for caring for LGBTIA+ Youth.

2. Appropriate language and considerations for working with transgender youth.

3. The intersection of Incarceration: special considerations for caring for incarcerated / formerly incarcerated youth.

View presentation here

Leah M. Batty-Hibbs, M.A., LMHC, Ph.D.

Providing Support for Grieving Children and their Care Givers: An Embodied and Creativity Focused Counseling Approach

The intent of this presentation is to enrich your awareness of your personal perspectives of loss and grief, your clinical skills (what theoretical approach or perspective resonates with your style of assessment and counseling), your critical thinking skills in conjunction with possible interventions and an opportunity to become more familiar with different types of loss and grief experiences, specifically when working with grieving children and their care-givers. The presenter’s personal approach “Embodied and Creativity Focused Counseling” teaches parents to co-regulate with their child (inter-personally), which in turn will encourage the child to self-regulate (intra-personally), therefore increasing parental connection and self-efficacy of the child. Being able to self-regulate allows an individual to control their emotional responses to their environment, at the same time, increasing their ability to grieve in their own way by honoring their own internal and external experiences. Increasing connection with a child’s primary care-giver, will have a positive impact on the child’s mental health, in addition to increasing connection and support within their relationship.

Learning Objectives:

1. At the completion of this presentation participants will be able to describe components of a grief group which provide connection.

2. At the completion of this presentation participants will be able recognize areas of improvement in their current offering of grief support.

3. At the completion of this presentation participants will be able to articulate the relational effectiveness of their grief program.

View the powerpoint here