Many community support workers and health care professionals may only have brief contact, or sometimes just a single session, with individuals experiencing grief or bereavement.

Effective bereavement support can be offered or initiated via brief contact or a single session, without compromising the quality of the support given. This training is aimed at community support staff and health care workers who have contact with bereaved and grieving individuals, even though their primary role may not be in the field of grief and bereavement.

This training will offer a simple framework and strategies that can be used to ensure effective bereavement support when only having brief contact with bereaved or grieving individuals.

• Identify common grief reactions and contemporary bereavement theories 
• Apply single brief bereavement care with grieving individuals
• Implement effective communication strategies to assist people who are grieving 
• Recognise the impact of working with grief on self

Frontline workers are regularly exposed to work-related grief and bereavement, including attending traumatic deaths and being the first to inform individuals regarding the death of a loved one. As a result, research suggests that frontline workers are at greater risk of suffering health issues and high levels of psychological distress. 

This training will introduce workers to historical and contemporary theories in the field of grief, loss, and bereavement. At the same time, we will provide simple strategies that can be used to respond effectively to bereaved or grieving individuals at the scene of a death.

Students will also learn the effects this exposure can have on them including learning to recognise the signs and impact. Students will be provided with strategies and resources to build a personal toolkit of support.

• Understanding contemporary theories used within the grief, loss, and bereavement field
• Understand common bereavement and grief reactions to a traumatic death
• Explore effective support strategies when communicating with bereaved individuals and families
• Identify the impact of providing this support and exploring ways to minimise the effect

Supporting anyone in grief can be difficult, and this is especially so when it’s a child. A child’s developmental understanding of death impacts their expressions and experience of grief. However, just like us adults, children think, feel, act, and react to grief in their unique ways. This introductory workshop delivers basic theory and practical skills to help professionals develop a framework for supporting and journeying alongside grieving children and adolescents. 

You will engage in a range of effective practical support strategies and creative interventions that will help build your confidence in working effectively with grieving children and adolescents.

• Understand the theoretical frameworks that inform the field of loss, grief and bereavement and how it impacts upon children and adolescents
• Explore the impact and developmental needs of grieving children and adolescents.
• Identify a range of therapeutic interventions that may be useful when working with bereaved children and adolescents.

When working in a service industry, it can be challenging to provide the appropriate emotional support required to a grieving individual. It can difficult knowledge how to respond to a grieving individual and worried you may say the wrong thing. Using compassionate conversations, we can provide a safe space for discussion and expression of grief.

This training will provide you with information and strategies to navigate these difficult conversations. We will introduce you to the historical and contemporary theories in the field of grief, loss, and bereavement and explore the impact of grief on the individual and significant others around them. Through an interactive learning environment, you will start to develop a basic set of skills, including active listening, reframing, and how to manage strong emotions. Through compassionate conversations, we can move towards a more engaging conversation with others.

• Identify common grief reactions and contemporary bereavement theories
• Implement compassionate conversations with grieving individuals 
• Recognise the impact of working with grief on self

In today's society, animals are considered part of the family unit. It is not then surprising that those who experience the death of a companion animal experience significant levels of grief, with symptomology and characteristics comparable to that of a human.

However, the Human-animal loss experience may go unrecognised or validated resulting in the bereaved individuals being highly vulnerable to insufficient societal support and unresolved grief.

This training will explore the phenomena of grieving after the death of a companion animal and provide ideas and strategies that can be effective in offering support to those who are grieving.

• Understand the animal human bond
• Understand the significance of having an animal die through current grief and bereavement theory
• Identify ways that support workers can care for self while supporting the bereaved
• Identify a range of strategies that can be used to support people and families who have experienced the death of a companion animal

• Veterinarians and vet nurses
• Counsellors
• Animal Support Workers

• Understanding the historical and current societal response to suicide and how this may impact the bereaved
• Describe the theoretical frameworks that inform the field of loss, grief, and bereavement
• Explore and understand effective strategies to support those grieving after a death by suicide
• Identify strategies on how to support self while supporting the bereaved

Death is an invertible part of life. However, in western society, we are not particularly good at talking about grief and death. We often feel uncomfortable and unsure that we will say the wrong thing or make things worse. However, grief is an experience that we all know in varying degrees and will affect all of us over our lifetimes. Grief is a normal response to loss; yet, how we express, and experience grief is as unique as our fingerprint.

Research tells us that a large percentage of bereaved individuals will be able to live with their grief with minimal support from professionals. However, social supports play a large role in the grieving process. It can be challenging sitting with another persons’ painful experience as we naturally want to make things better. Without adequate social support and an understanding of the nature of grief, complications and difficulties may occur over time. It can then be challenging identifying when to be concerned for the wellbeing of a bereaved individual and if professional support is required.

The Grief First Aid (GFA) is a two-day, interactive training; creating a safe space, we invite an interactive learning environment to explore death and dying from a historical and cultural perspective while drawing on your own experiences and knowledge. The training will equip you with information to identify and respond when someone is experiencing common and atypical loss response, enabling you to recognise when specialist grief and bereavement services are required. It will give you the skills and knowledge to be able to support grieving and bereaved individuals.

Our aim is to create a community where death and dying can be talked about openly and support can be provided among friends, family, and the wider society.

ASIST is the world’s leading suicide intervention workshop, it has a strong evidence base and is shown to make a difference. ASIST is a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid teaching participants to recognise when someone may be at risk of suicide and working with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety.

ASIST workshops are facilitated by a minimum of two registered trainers who have completed a five-day Training for Trainers (T4T) course. ASIST trainers deliver regular workshops and participate in a rigorous quality control program to remain registered.

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• Understand the ways personal and societal attitudes affect views on suicide and interventions
• Provide guidance and suicide first-aid to a person at risk in ways that meet their individual safety needs
• Identify the key elements of an effective suicide safety plan and the actions required to implement it
• Appreciate the value of improving and integrating suicide prevention resources in the community at large
• Recognise other important aspects of suicide prevention including life-promotion and self-care