Description:
While we experience grief and loss due to deaths or other circumstances across our lifespans, certain experiences are more common as we age. This presentation will focus on common grief and loss experiences for middle-age through older adults, ranging from caregiving, retirement, loss of parents and friends, and more. Strategies for navigating grief with adult/older adult clients will be covered, as well as personal exploration into our relationship to grief and loss.
Most of us received next to no training in our graduate school programs regarding aging or grief. Grief is experienced across the lifespan, so it is imperative that clinicians have at least a basic understanding of contemporary grief models. Also given that grief is a universal human experience, it is important to reflect on our own grieving experiences and how that shapes the work that we do. This presentation aims to accomplish both!
Objectives:
1. Describe common life experiences of grief and loss for middle age to older adults.
2. Discuss 2-3 contemporary grief models to help guide conversations with grieving adults.
3. Build empathy, compassion, and understanding for our older adult clients/patients who are experiencing grief and loss.
Trainer Bio: Tamara Statz, MA, LMFT, FT
Tamara L. Statz, MA, LMFT, FT is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in St. Paul, Minnesota. For the past 11 years, Tamara has provided clinical services to adult individuals, couples, families, and groups with a focus on aging, chronic and terminal illness, grief and loss, caregiving, and dementia. Tamara holds a Fellow in Thanatology designation from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) which signifies expertise in death, dying, and bereavement. Tamara is adjunct faculty at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in the masters in Counseling and Psychological Services Program. She is also a board-approved clinical supervisor for individuals seeking independent clinical licensure in Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is passionate about supporting individuals as they age, caregivers as they support their family members, and students and new professionals entering the field of mental health care.
