You will hear in this lecture from Nicola Hughes, a creative counsellor, supervisor and trainer – and former performing artist and youth worker.
With particular expertise in bereavement, change and loss, Nicola will help you gain a deeper understanding of these areas, so enhancing your work with clients who have suffered bereavement or are going through significant life changes.
In particular, you will be enabled to:
- reflect on your own thoughts and feelings about grief and how this may affect your helping
- understand bereavement theories and how to apply them in practice
- consider the factors affecting bereaved people and their possible reactions
- be aware of assessment options and how you can work with bereaved clients.
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Nicola looks at the place of death within our society, including the use of euphemisms, and what these reveal about the views of those who use them.
Understanding your own use of death-related euphemisms is vital to your self-awareness when working with bereaved clients – as is the processing of your own losses. You will learn about how your experiences can both help and hinder client work in this area.
Do you know the difference between bereavement, grief and mourning? Nicola explains this, before moving on to five grief theories and their evolution, covering:
- the Kubler-Ross model
- Worden’s tasks of mourning
- the whirlpool of grief
- the dual process model
- Tonkin’s model of growing around grief.
Nicola applies these theories to practical client work, and you will learn about:
- working with diversity
- intervening variables in bereavement
- complicated grief
- post-grief reactions – behavioural, physical, cognitive and emotional.
Nicola looks at the differences between bereavement work and counselling other types of clients, before suggesting some possible ways forward for practitioners who would like to develop their knowledge and experience in this area of therapy.
You will also have access to a range of useful handouts, plus links to relevant websites.
Free Handout Download
Bereavement Awareness lecture overview
About the Lecture Presenter
Nicola Hughes is a creative counsellor, supervisor and trainer who helps people and professionals to 'Find Themselves, Be Themselves and Grow Themselves'.
Before becoming a counsellor, she was a performing artist and youth worker. Nicola came into counselling as she felt that the people she met needed more help than she could offer at the time.
Since qualifying in 2009, she has worked for primary and secondary schools, universities, health projects, children's charities, bereavement and cancer charities, and the NHS.
She has delivered many training courses on bereavement, sexual abuse, sex and relationships, and counselling.
Nicola loves training, not just because she enjoys a crowd, but because she is passionate about delivering excellent training that is creative, relevant and practical.
She is now enjoying the good life of private practice, and trying to keep all her creative ideas and plans under control!
Nicola has particular expertise in bereavement, change and loss, and works with clients who have suffered a bereavement or are going through significant life changes.
In particular, she helps women with the transition into motherhood, which can include helping women to process difficult birth experiences, adjust to being a mother, deal with perinatal mental health issues and transition back to work.
All of her clients and supervisees are invited to work creatively, whether they meet online, face to face or outdoors. Nicola says, "Being creative allows our subconscious out, and when it's out we can really see what's going on".
She works from her 'Caravan Clinic' in Pudsey, online, and in the woods and parks nearby, offering outdoor therapy. Her work is with individuals aged 13 plus, couples and groups.
Nicola lives in Leeds with her hubby, their two little pickles and a small hound (the latter features in many of her social media posts). She loves walking, crafting, drinking coffee and eating cake with friends!