Difficult Conversations: Understanding And Navigating Them- A Two Part webinar Series | Non-Member Registration

Description

January 20, 2027- Communicating Across Complex Situations: Practical Strategies for Difficult Conversations*

Difficult conversations are an inevitable part of grief and bereavement work. Grief support brings people together at times of profound loss, change, vulnerability, and uncertainty, making communication especially consequential. These conversations may occur while supporting a grieving person or family, working with students or patients, supervising staff, teaching or mentoring, collaborating with colleagues, giving or receiving feedback, or navigating organizational change. Even when everyone involved has good intentions, conversations can become frustrating or defensive and result in misunderstanding, disconnection, or conflict.

This interactive webinar examines the social and psychological dynamics that shape difficult conversations before a single word is spoken. Drawing on research in interpersonal communication and social psychology, participants will explore how who we are, what we need and expect, the roles we hold, the situations we are working within, and the meanings we make of other people’s words and actions can shape an interaction. Rather than treating communication as a matter of choosing the “right words,” the session offers a framework for understanding why people can experience the same conversation very differently, and how greater awareness can create room for more thoughtful communication choices.

We will work primarily with scenarios involving grief, bereavement, and support, while also considering how the same communication dynamics appear across the professional relationships and settings represented within the NACG community. Through scenarios, polls, reflection exercises, and discussion, participants will examine how these dynamics shape consequential conversations in practice.

February 24, 2027- Communicating Across Complex Situations: Practical Strategies for Difficult Conversations*

Difficult conversations are rarely difficult simply because people lack communication skills. In grief and bereavement work, several things often matter at the same time. We may need to support someone while respecting their autonomy, provide honest information while remaining responsive to distress, address a problem while preserving trust, support a colleague while meeting other responsibilities, or make an organizational decision while recognizing its impact on grieving people and those who serve them. The need is not simply about having the right intention, and the challenge is not simply about finding the right words. It is recognizing what people are trying to accomplish within the interaction, and what happens when those goals coexist, compete, or conflict.

This interactive webinar introduces a research-informed framework for understanding and navigating different goal situations in difficult conversations. Drawing on theoretical and empirical research in interpersonal communication and social psychology, participants will examine how goals shape communication and why different combinations of goals call for different communication choices. Using primarily grief and bereavement-related scenarios, participants will practice identifying the goals operating within an interaction, examining where they align or come into tension, and considering communication approaches that fit the situation. Attendee-submitted scenarios, polls, reflection activities, and discussion will also allow participants to apply the framework to difficult conversations arising in their own professional roles and settings.

Rather than offering scripted responses, this webinar provides a practical framework for making sound communication judgments in consequential conversations, within grief support and across the many professional relationships that surround bereavement work.

*Please note, this is part one of a two-part webinar series. The first webinar will take place on January 20, 2027 and the second webinar will take place on February 24, 2027.