Grief Special Topics: Ambiguous Loss, Disenfranchised Grief (WJCS Staff Only)
March 31, 2026 @ 9:00 am - 11:00 am
THIS COURSE IS AVAILABLE TO WJCS STAFF ONLY!
Enrollment Limited to: 20
Contact Hours: 2
CEU’s: 2
Losses are ever-present in our lives, yet those that don’t involve death are often overlooked by clients, clinicians, and communities. Join us and deepen your grief-informed practice by considering the many ways your clients experience loss. This training clarifies core concepts such as Ambiguous Loss and Disenfranchised Grief and examines real-world examples across a broad spectrum of client experiences (including trauma, adoption, foster care, divorce, estrangement, immigration, deportation, forced migration, incarceration, brain injury, mental illness, developmental disabilities, gender and sexuality, aging, and caregiving). You will learn practical intervention strategies and principles for working with clients facing ambiguous losses and disenfranchised grief.
Method: Lecture, discussion
Learning Objectives:
- Define Ambiguous Loss and Disenfranchised Grief, and recognize examples of each in the clients you serve.
- Explain similarities and differences between ambiguous loss and loss to death.
- Learn cognitive, emotional, and relational approaches to help clients experience loss in new ways, promoting healing and hope.
- Utilize dialectical strategies and an evolved understanding of “hope” in the context of ambiguous loss.
Instructors: Tiffany Huseman, Psy.D.; Sedef Orsel, LCSW
Location: Zoom
Westchester Jewish Community Services is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0101, and by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW0067, and 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-0313.
Please note: To receive CE credits, one must attend the entirety of the class. Partial credit will not be awarded to those who attend only a portion of the class. Therefore, late arrival or an early departure of greater than 10 minutes constitutes not attending a class in its entirety. To document attendance, participants must sign in and out of the class and complete an evaluation at the end of each class
