GriefWork: Growing from life’s inevitable losses (2023.02.15; via Zoom)

Growing from life's inevitable losses

Losses happen. That's always been true, but it's even more salient in these dreadful Days of COVID.  

Historically, it was the wisdom traditions—religion and philosophy—that provided us with comfort. Today psychology helps too: the utterly universal experience of loss has spawned much excellent scientific research.   

This workshop assumes your appointments are brief, averaging only 5–7 minutes. With that in mind, we teach the CBT tools that are highest in impact and practicality. The goal is to efficiently help patients cope—at least a little better—with the pain of some of life’s inevitable losses. 

1. What are the criteria for DSM-5-TR's new Prolonged Grief Disorder?


2. Kübler-Ross’s DABDA is dead. What new recovery model is both evidence-based and empowering?


3. Is it bereavement or is it depression? If it’s “just” bereavement, how should the management differ?   


4. Reassurance is helpful—but goodness gracious, only to a point. What concrete tools help the bereaved? And what tricks can we use to boost compliance? 


5. People persist to prevent the pain of loss; e.g., with relationships beyond their “best before” dates, and with careers that suck their souls. How can one escape the “sunk cost trance” underlying such maladaptive behaviors?


6. Beyond reducing suffering, there’s the tantalizing prospect of “post-traumatic growth” (PTG). PTG is real—what are non-klutzy ways of facilitating it? 


7. Forgiveness (in some form) is often required to overcome a loss. How does the research suggest we define and facilitate that which sounds so godawfully churchy?


8. How prevalent are the so-called “moral injuries”? How can we help those genuinely suffering from them?  


9. For some patients, the fear of death is overwhelming. How can we help them overcome that common cause of suffering? 

Head instructor Greg Dubord, MD is the CME Director of CBT Canada, and the prime developer of medical CBT. He has presented over 500 workshops, including over 50 for the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and is a University of Toronto CME Teacher of the Year.

Accreditation is three-credits-per-hour by the College of Family Physicians of Canada*. The workshop is 3.0 hours in length, for 9.0 Mainpro+ credits. The Royal College accepts Mainpro+ credits as equivalent (1:1) to MOC credits for Section 1 (i.e., Group Learning). As such, this 3.0 hour, three-credits-per-hour module counts for 9.0 credits in MAINPORT.