Jack Jordan (Full-day)

Workshop Title
Traumatic Loss: New Understandings, New Directions

Purpose/ Objective of Workshop
The goal of this workshop is to increase the skills of participants at understanding and intervening with cases of traumatic loss, meaning sudden, unexpected, violent, and traumatizing deaths, such as suicides, homicides, violent accidents, etc.

Brief Description
Bereavement after the sudden, unexpected, and violent death of a loved one can create one of the most difficult loss trajectories. This workshop will provide an overview and update of the effects on individuals and families of traumatic deaths such as suicides, homicides, and accidental deaths. After a brief review of new bereavement models and research findings, we will use the twin lenses of thanatology and traumatology to understand the impact of this type of bereavement. We will also explore the implications of this perspective for assessment and intervention, focusing on new techniques that are developing for helping traumatized survivors. While drawing primarily on the presenter’s extensive experience working with survivors of suicide loss, the information presented will have wide applicability to work with people who have lost a loved one to any type of sudden or violent death. The workshop will be informed by research and clinical experience, and will include the use of didactic lecture, case discussion, and audiovisual presentation.

Target Participants (and any pre-requisite)
This workshop is designed primarily for professionals who provide counseling or therapy for people who have experienced the traumatic death of a loved one. It would also be suitable for professionals who provide crisis intervention and “first-response” for the newly bereaved.

 

Facilitator Bio

John (Jack) Jordan, PhD, FT, is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Wellesley, MA, and Pawtucket, RI, where he specializes in working with loss and bereavement. He was also the founder and, until 2007, the director of the Family Loss Project, a research and clinical practice providing services for bereaved families. He has specialized in work with survivors of suicide and other losses for more than 30 years. As a Fellow in Thanatology from the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), Jack maintains an active practice in grief counseling for individuals and couples. He has run support groups for bereaved parents, young widows and widowers and suicide survivors, with the latter running for over 13 years.