The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioner's Guide with Activities and Worksheets

Understanding loss and its effects is integral to effective counseling and support in the treatment of grief. This book is both a guide to the key theories of bereavement, and a practical workbook that can be used with clients to help them understand and work through their grief in a positive, transformative way.

Divided into two parts, the first section presents current models of grief used by thanatologists, and advice on when to apply them, these models provide a springboard to deepen the conversation with clients, allowing them to discover insights, consider memories and express their pain. In the second part of the book, creative exercises encourage clients to engage with their stories and actively apply their discoveries to their own healing.

Offering a straightforward guide to bereavement models and therapeutic approaches, with photocopiable exercises and worksheets, The Creative Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement is a valuable resource for information on grief and how to help grieving clients, and an invitation to explore creative possibilities for healing.

Claudia Coenen, GTMR, CGC, FT, is a grief counsellor in private practice in Hudson, New York, where she helps people express emotions and discover personal resilience as they learn to live fully after loss. A skilled public speaker, she presents workshops on Grief through the Creative Lens, Loving after Loss, Vicarious Trauma and Compassion Fatigue and Somatic Awareness. Claudia has certifications in grief counseling, thanatology and Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction. Her life in performing arts informs her work, along with extensive study of expressive therapy techniques