About this course

Learning Objectives

• Describe the key elements of a supportive environment for grieving children and adolescents and identify how those elements contribute to well-being across school, private practice, and agency settings.
• Assess the effectiveness of grief group interventions for children and adolescents and justify adjustments based on client response and group needs.
• Design and implement a grief group program for children and adolescents grounded in evidence-based practice.

Learning Levels

• Beginner and Intermediate, all levels are welcomed

Target Audience

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Kelly Daugherty, LCSW-R, FT, GC-C, BC-TMH

  Grief Specialist and Educator

  Kelly Daugherty is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Fellow in Thanatology, and grief specialist with over 25 years of experience supporting individuals, families, and professionals through some of life's most profound losses. Based in Malta, New York, Kelly is the founder of Kelly Daugherty, LCSW, PLLC, a private clinical practice specializing in acute and traumatic grief, and the Center for Informed Grief, LLC, an education and training organization dedicated to advancing grief-informed practice across school, clinical, and community settings. She is also the creator of Healing Strides, a trademarked, research-based program that combines grief group support with 5K race training for grieving women.

  Kelly's clinical expertise spans traumatic grief, suicide loss, parent loss, and grief in children and adolescents. She is a sought-after trainer and educator whose work reaches mental health professionals, school counselors, and helping professionals across the country. As a Senior Faculty Member for EngagedMinds Continuing Education, she brings both clinical rigor and personal understanding to every training she delivers — drawing on her experience as a motherless daughter and bereaved child to deepen her work with others.

  A prolific author and contributor to the grief field, Kelly is the lead author of The Grief Experience: Tools for Acceptance, Resilience and Connection, a collaborative work featuring 25 authors, and has contributed chapters to Holistic Mental Health, Brave Kids (Volumes 1–3), and Ultimate Guide to Self Healing, Vol. 6. She also recently published The First Year After Loss: The GRIEF Ladies Guide to Everything You Need to Know and is currently completing The GRIEF Ladies: A Guide to What Comes Next. Kelly is the co-host of the GRIEF Ladies Podcast and co-creator of the GRIEF Ladies framework, a practical, evidence-informed approach to navigating life after loss.

Disclosure

References

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• Bergman, A., Axberg, U., & Hanson, E. (2017). When a parent dies – a systematic review of the effects of support programs for parentally bereaved children and their caregivers. BMC Palliative Care, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0223-y
• Child and Youth Grief Network: Child and Youth Grief Network. (n.d.). Resources for Professionals. https://www.childyouthgriefnetwork.org/resources-for-professionals/
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• O’Brien, K. D., Cannon, G., Stearns, A., Walsh, C. T., & Hill, E. M. (2022). “I’m Not Alone”: A Group Intervention for Grieving Children. Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion, 3(3), 395–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/26320770221098730
• Peña-Vargas, C., Armaiz-Peña, G., & Castro-Figueroa, E. (2021). A biopsychosocial approach to grief, depression, and the role of emotional regulation. Behavioral Sciences, 11(8), 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11080110
• Reed, G. M., First, M. B., Billieux, J., Cloitre, M., Briken, P., Achab, S., Brewin, C. R., King, D. L., Kraus, S. W., & Bryant, R. A. (2022). Emerging experience with selected new categories in the ICD‐11: complex PTSD, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder. World Psychiatry, 21(2), 189–213. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20960
• Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (2010, December). The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: A Decade on. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 61(4), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.2190/om.61.4.b
• Szuhany, K. L., Malgaroli, M., Miron, C. D., & Simon, N. M. (2021). Prolonged Grief Disorder: Course, diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. FOCUS the Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry, 19(2), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20200052
• Tillman, K. S., & Prazak, M. (2018). Kids supporting kids: A 10-week small group curriculum for grief and loss in schools. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 18(4), 395–401. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12190
• Worden, W. (2022, May 3). Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, 5th Edition: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner: Grief Counseling Handbook on Treatment of Grief, Loss and Bereavement. Independently published.