To view the main page for National Conference & Webcast and to register for a webcast license, visit HERE.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief will host our annual National Conference & Webcast on March 21, 2023.  This popular event will this year feature Eleanor Haley, MS, and Litsa Williams, MA, LCSW-C, co-founders of the online grief community What’s Your Grief. Both the speakers and topic will appeal to a diverse audience, including professionals and volunteers from funeral service, hospice care, health care, education, mental health, child welfare, and bereavement support.

Grief is the normal and natural reaction to any significant loss, whether that is a bereavement loss or a non-death loss. The opioid epidemic continues to surge in the US, with overdose deaths reaching 107,000 in 2021, a record in the US and an increase of nearly 20% over the previous annual high. Unfortunately, accompanying grief, the impacts on children and families isn’t well-researched and often remain overshadowed and misunderstood. Family members of those living with substance use disorders often experience deep ambiguous grief. Children are often faced with navigating complex, unreliable relationships as a result of the disorder and are left to make sense of concepts far beyond their stages of moral development.

The first half of this is designed to understand ambiguous loss in substance abuse and to provide strategies to support these children and families. This includes a framework for understanding a child’s comprehension of addiction and developmental age, guidelines for talking to children, and creative activities for children and families.

The second half of this program will assist professionals in responding to the unique grief following substance-related deaths. Drawing on existing research and program interventions, it will provide strategies for supporting those dealing with the most common complex issues of substance-related grief in children and adults, including disenfranchised grief, guilt, blame, anxiety and hypervigilance, relief, and introducing basic coping tools for individuals and support systems. Specific attention will be given to the needs of children and tools for assisting caregivers who are supporting children grieving substance-related deaths.

 

CE Total: The NACG has applied for three (3) CEs for webcast attendees.  These will be available at a cost of $45 per person.
Target Audience: Counselors, Social workers, Bereavement support professionals
Instructional Level: Basic
Format: Live event in Baltimore; Live Non-Interactive Webinar for those attending a webcast

 

 

Objectives:

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Describe commonalities in the grief of children and adults both before and after a death to overdose or other substance-related cause.
2. Identify key indicators of ambiguous grief and apply relevant therapeutic and psychoeducational interventions to ease the stress of ambiguous grief for families with loved one(s) with substance use disorders.
3. Develop treatment plans and programming that addresses the pervasive disenfranchised experience of children and families who have lost a loved one to addiction.
4. Identify challenges faced by children in families with substance misuse based on developmental age/stage, while considering the need for flexibility in applying these expectations.
5. Assess the unique needs of children grieving family members with substance misuse, with focus on both meeting needs directly, as well as engaging caregivers and other family in providing a supportive environment for grieving in the home.

 

Speaker Bios:

Eleanor Haley, MS and Litsa Williams, MA, LCSW-C are the co-founders of the online grief community What’s Your Grief. Together they run the grief education and creative exploration websites ‘What’s Your Grief’ and ‘Grief in Six Words’. Both are mental health professionals with a collective 25+ years of experience working with people coping with all types of complicated losses and life transitions.

Read the full bio here →

 

 

Cost Structure:

Individual Cost: The event in Baltimore, MD is free to attend, but registration is required. The cost for 3 CEs is $45.00. Please designate if you would like CEs when registering. In-person registration coming soon!

Webcast License Cost: There is a one-time fee associated with hosting the event.  This is the only fee payable to the NACG regardless of the size of your in-person audience.  We encourage you to make the most of this opportunity to share the webcast with the widest audience possible. All you need to host an event is a Zoom account (you can make one for free!), a space to host the event, and a screen to share the broadcast.

• $250 – General Rate/Non-Members. If you are not a member, consider joining!  Learn more here.
• $200 – Current NACG Members

Sales of webcast licenses will close on March 14th, 2023. 

What is included when you purchase the webcast?

• A single-use link to the live webcast of the event.
• Discussion questions to support community conversations on this topic
• Promotional poster and social posts
• Hosting tips with helpful information to support you in organizing your event
• High-quality national speakers on a relevant topic to engage your community

Ticketing for this event is for a webcast license to share with your community. There are no individual ticket options.

If you have questions or need support in working through how to host an event in your community, please email Megan Lopez, NACG National Program Director, at megan.lopez@childrengrieve.org. 

 

Schedule:

 

CE Provider Information:

CE Process Info: Each professional is responsible for the requirements stipulated by their licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend “live” (in real time either on location in Baltimore or on location at a webcasting site) to earn CEs. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE process, please contact Adam Carter at adam.carter@childrengrieve.org or at 980-298-1155.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7221. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Counselors completing all three sessions of this conference will receive 3 contact hours.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0689. Social Workers completing this event will receive 3 contact hours.

The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0238. Counselors completing all three sessions of this conference will receive 3 contact hours.

National Alliance for Children’s Grief, #1819, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers.  State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. National Alliance for Children’s Grief maintains responsibility for this course.  ACE provider approval period: 07/20/2022 – 07/20/2023.   Counselors completing this course will receive 3 continuing education credits.

Refund/cancellation policy: If you need to cancel your registration, please contact Adam Carter at adam.carter@childrengrieve.org or at 980-298-1155. Please note that no refunds will be given.

To request accessibility accommodations: The National Alliance for Children’s Grief is committed to providing universal access to all our events. Please contact Adam Carter at adam.carter@childrengrieve.org or at 980-298-1155 to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.

Attendance policy: To earn CEs for this event, you must pay the $45.00 CE cost, attend the entirety of the event as demonstrated by your signature on the sign-in/out form at your location, and complete an online event evaluation within seven (7) days of the event. Please ensure you have signed in and out BEFORE leaving the event location, as this is the only way that NACG verifies attendance for CE purposes.

Grievance policy: To view the NACG’s Continuing Education Grievance Policy, you can find it HERE.