Responding to unexpected and traumatic death:
A cognitive approach to traumatic and complex grief
Only £80.00
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ABSTRACT
Pre the Covid-19 pandemic around 5.1 million people die in Europe every year, leaving behind many close loved ones. Research reveals that approximately 7 to 14% of bereaved people will struggle to adapt to their loss, resulting in 357,000 to 714,000 new cases of persistent complex grief disorder.The pandemic has dramatically increased these numbers leading to loss of loved ones in the most unusual circumstances. Disasters with mass casualties generally result in higher levels of PG symptoms among bereaved survivors and Prolonged Grief symptoms are typically elevated when deaths are unexpected, traditional grief rituals are absent and social support is unavailable.
In this CBT workshop, you will learn how to apply trauma-focused techniques for PTSD to traumatic and complex grief and how to adapt these techniques to treat loss-related memories, linked images and appraisals.Participants will learn how to distinguish complex grief from PTSD and Depression, how to work with triggers, memories, images, appraisals and common maintaining strategies (e.g., rumination) associated with traumatic/complex grief.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES:
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- distinguish complex grief from PTSD and depression
- work with triggers, memories, images, appraisals and common maintaining strategies (e.g., rumination) associated with traumatic/complex grief
- transform worst loss moments with imagery
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REFERENCES
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Duffy, M. & Wild, J. (2017). A cognitive approach to persistent complex bereavement disorder. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, Special Issue, 1-19.
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Smith, K.V., Wild, J., & Ehlers, A. (2020) The Masking of Mourning: Social disconnection and its relationship to psychological distress after loss. Clinical Psychological Science
https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702620902748<https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2167702620902748>
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Dr Michael Duffy
Dr Michael Duffy Is a Consultant Cognitive Psychotherapist specialising in PTSD and complex grief and Senior Lecturer and Director of the Specialist MSc (Trauma) in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy at Queen’s University Belfast. He leads the QUB Trauma Research Network; is a Fellow of the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation; Assoc. Fellow of the George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace Security & Justice and Fellow of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. Michael is research/clinical advisor to the Northern Ireland Regional Trauma Network and a member of the UK Trauma Council.
Michael led the work of the Trauma team after the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland in 1998 and has published research on the psychological effects of this event on adults, children and adolescents. He later was Team Leader at the Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma (NICTT) and led 2 clinical trials on the application of TF-CT for conflict related PTSD.
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Michael has provided many workshops on PTSD after large scale traumas including: 2004, New York the 9/11 Twin Towers attack; 2005, 7/11 London bombings; 2012 Oslo bombing and Utoya Island shootings; 2017, the Manchester Concert bomb.
Michael's main research focus has been on PTSD and evidence-based psychological interventions. His current research is on PTSD with children who have been maltreated or abused and new cognitive approaches for complex grief and complex PTSD. He has provided many webinars and podcasts including a recent BBC documentary on “PTSD – stress of the past https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-51489611