STAY With Grief: Case-Based Application of a Grief Integration Framework

Description

Grief often arrives in the therapy room unlabeled, presenting as burnout, anxiety, low mood, or stalled progress in treatment, yet most psychologists were trained in stage-based models that no longer reflect contemporary bereavement science. This three-hour workshop introduces STAY (Slow Down, Track the Loss, Allow Complexity, Yield to the Moment), an orienting stance for grief-informed care that works alongside your existing theoretical orientation and evidence-based treatments rather than replacing them. Drawing on the work of Bonanno, Neimeyer, Boss, Doka, and Stroebe and Schut, participants will explore grief as relational, nonlinear, and cumulative, including anticipatory, ambiguous, and disenfranchised losses, and will learn to differentiate normative grief from depression and prolonged grief disorder. Five case examples bring the framework into practice: miscarriage and infertility, long-term caregiving, a couple navigating different grief styles, a new chronic illness diagnosis, and disenfranchised loss. Participants will leave with practical language, assessment questions, and a clear structure for leaning toward grief rather than away from it.

Note: This is a 3-hr webinar—plus a 15-minute break for the live session, which runs 12pm-3:15pm ET.

Continuing Education Information

3 CE Credits, Instructional Level: Intermediate

3 Contact Hours (New York Board of Psychology)

Disclosures: Dr. Taylor developed the STAY framework presented in this course. She provides continuing education trainings and clinical consultation related to the framework, for which honoraria may be received, and offers grief education resources and online courses based on it. She is preparing a book proposal on the framework and has submitted a related manuscript for peer review. She has no commercial support, sponsorship, or funded research to disclose. No products will be sold or promoted during this presentation. All case examples are composites or de-identified to protect client confidentiality. Generative AI was used to assist with organizing and editing submission materials from the presenter's existing work. The presenter reviewed and revised all content, verified all references, and takes full responsibility for the course content.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the four components of the STAY framework and explain how an integration-focused, orienting stance differs from stage-based and closure-oriented grief models.
2. Apply the STAY framework to case examples involving reproductive loss, caregiving, couples with differing grief styles, chronic illness, and disenfranchised grief to guide assessment and in-session clinical decisions.
3. Compare normative grief to major depression and prolonged grief disorder, using culturally informed assessment to avoid pathologizing adaptive grief.

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CE Disclaimers

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The National Register maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

The National Register of Health Service Psychologists is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0010

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