Connect with Us

Live Chat

chat live with aihcpHave questions? Join us on live chat now! One of our advisors will be happy to assist you and respond to your questions.

AIHCP Blog

Please visit our interactive web blog. Here you will find frequently added information on our programs, articles and news by practice specialty, and much more. Register and become a part of our professional health care community.

GC 410 – Grief Counseling for the Helping Professions

COURSE INFORMATION

This online CE course provides students with a continuation of course content, based on learning from the above course “Death, Dying & Mourning.” Students continue to study other theories and model processes of grieving, as well as more scientific inquiry into these processes. Case studies are provided which allow students the opportunity to better equate theory into practice. The student continues in this course to study and learn many interventions and modalities for use in grief counseling and bereavement education. Upon successful completion of this course, students are awarded 20 contact hours of continuing education credits. Course Code: GC 410. Contact hours of CE = 20.

Course Tuition: $ 160.00

Additional $30.00 if you want the AKH.inc Companion Certificate of Completion

Levels of course complexity: Advanced

Target Audience: Nurses, Physicians, Psychiatrists, Psychologist, Social Work Professionals, Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, Mental Health Specialists, School Counselors, Grief Professionals, Trauma Specialists, Crisis Interventionists, Stress Management Consultants, Thanatologists, Pastoral Counselors, Mental Health Care Coaches, Funeral Directors, Ordained Clergy, Rehabilitation Specialists, Substance Abuse Counselors, Spiritual Counselors, other Licensed Health Care Professionals.

This course is particularly designed for those who would like to apply for Certification as a Grief Counselor with the American Academy of Grief Counseling. You must have met at least one of the defined requisites to enter this program, in order to enroll into this course.

Instructor/Course Author:  Dominick L. Flarey, Ph.D, MBA, RN,BC, GC-C

is an Advanced Practice Nurse, a Board Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and a Board Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Dr. Flarey is the founder and the Executive Director of the American Academy of Grief Counseling. Dr. Flarey has over 25 years’ experience teaching and practicing in the specialties of death, dying and grief support work. He was a pioneer in the days of the first publications of Dr. Elizabeth Kuebler-Ross’s works, and developed education programs based on her research findings for health care professionals working in emergency and critical care areas. He has developed numerous courses and curriculums in death, dying, and grief/bereavement at the college level and continues today to develop and teach continuing education courses to health care professionals through the American Academy of Grief Counseling. He is a consultant for Grief Counselors both nationally and internationally. As a Board-Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, he works with clients to help them deal more effectively with death anxiety and with troubling grief reactions. As a Certified Master EFT Practitioner and a Certified Thought Field Therapy Practitioner (Algo) he is now working with clients in the area of Energy Psychology to assist them with working through many types of crippling grief/bereavement issues. He continues to work with highly qualified clinicians in the specialty practices of grief counseling to develop new courses and curriculums for health care professionals that will continue to serve the needs of clients well into the future.
Link to Resume

TEXTBOOK: There is one (1) required textbook for this course.

Grief and Loss: Theories and Skills for Helping Professionals. 3rd edition. By: Katherine Walsh-Burke. Boston; Pearson Education Inc:2021.

  • ISBN-10: 1478647388
  • ISBN-13: 978-1478647386

Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here

TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete all of the four (4) courses in the Grief Counseling continuing education program. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the courses within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an “incomplete” will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the courses after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.

GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 20 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by the American Academy of Grief Counseling and options for completing additional course work to achieve a passing score, will be presented.

BOARD APPROVALS:

GC 410 Grief Counseling for the Helping Professions
Online January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024 (AIHCP’s courses are open to enrollment. This is for AKH approvals only.)

Accreditation Statement

 
CE credit provided by AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare.

 

 In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare and The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc. AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

 

Physicians
AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare designates this enduring material for a maximum of 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nurses

Credit being awarded: 20 ANCC contact hours.

Pharmacists

AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare designates this continuing education activity for 20 contact hours.

Physician Assistants

AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 30 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Approval is valid until December 31, 2024. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

 

Nurse Practitioners
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Accreditation Standards of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) through the joint providership of AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare and The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc.  AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare is accredited by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as an approved provider of nurse practitioner continuing education. Provider number: 030803. This activity is approved for 20 contact hour(s) (which includes 0 hour(s) of pharmacology).

Psychologists

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

 

Social Workers

As a Jointly Accredited Organization, AKH Inc., Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. AKH Inc. Advancing Knowledge in Healthcare maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 30 clinical continuing education credits.

 Commercial Support

There is no commercial support for this activity.

 

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is an Approved Provider for Continuing Education by the South Carolina Professional Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists and Psycho-Educational Specialists licensing board, Provider # 4637.

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 20 Contact Hours. Access information

This course, which is approved by the Florida State Board Of Nursing (CE Provider # 50-11975) also has the following Board of Nursing Approvals, for 20 contact hours of CE

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.

Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here

ONLINE CLASSROOM RESOURCES AND TOOLS

* Examination Access: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as “open book” tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at anytime and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.

Student Resource Center: there is a link for access to a web page “Student Resource Center.” The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.

* Online Evaluation: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.

* Faculty Access Information: you will have access to your instructor’s online resume/biography, as well as your instructor’s specific contact information.

* Additional Learning Materials: some faculty have prepared additional “readings” and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1). Discuss basic facts about grief and loss, as well as their foundational theoretic basis.
2). Discuss “symbolic losses.”
3). Discuss various issues related to loss and grief in many different contexts.
4). Identify and discuss your own experiences related to grief and loss.
5). Assess a client’s readiness to work through grief.
6). Identify and discuss key issues related to self-preparation and training for professionals encountering loss and grief.
7). Identify competencies for those professionals caring for grieving clients.
8). Discuss major issues related to supervision, consultations and professional collaborations.
9). Identify and discuss major issues and theories related to loss and grief across the lifespan.
10). Identify and discuss theories and strategies related to normal and complicated grief reactions.
11). Identify and discuss preventative and therapeutic interventions in grief counseling.
12). Discuss issues related to psychiatric referrals and the use of psychotropic medications.
13). Discuss cultural and spiritual influences in coping with loss and grief.
14). Identify common misconceptions about grieving.
15). Discuss the use of empathetic communication in working with grieving clients.
16). Use ways and means to access information and resources useful in grief counseling.
17). Discuss common theories of grieving related to organizations and communities.
18). Explain how to establish a grieving protocol for interventions.
19). Identify and discuss self-care strategies and professional support systems for health professionals caring for grieving clients.
20). Identify and discuss common losses that occur across the life span.
21). Discuss the most helpful strategies for helping others cope with grief.

 

COURSE CONTENT:

A brief abstract of content:

1). Normal and complicated grief reactions.

2). Actual and symbolic losses.

3). Factors that positively and negatively influence grief.

4). Resources and interventions that are effective in helping those who grieve.

5). Loss and grief in different contexts.

6). Self experiences and attitudes related to grief.

7). Assessing readiness to work through grief.

8). Supervision, consultation and collaboration with other professionals.

9). Loss and grief across the life span.

10). Theories for understanding grief.

11). Interventions for normal and complicated grief.

12). Grief counseling and grief therapies.

13). Influence of cultural and spirituality in coping with loss and grief.

14). Misconceptions about grief.

15). Empathic communications.

16). Utilizing information and resources in grief counseling.

17). Leadership roles in grief counseling.

18). Establishing bereavement protocols.

19). Creating remembrances and memorials.

20). Self-Care strategies and professional continuing education, and professional support systems.