Professionals who are Grieving

Description

When clinicians are grieving, clinical work can become more complicated in ways that are both deeply personal and professionally significant. A client’s story may touch on a recent loss, questions about time away from work may raise decisions about what to share, and returning to a caseload may require more intentional boundaries than usual. During these seasons, clinicians need ways to care for themselves while continuing to protect the client-centered focus of therapy.

In this training, clinicians are invited to examine the ethical and relational decisions that can arise when their own grief intersects with client care. The course explores how to think through disclosure following a loss, how to distinguish self-disclosure from self-involving responses, and how to decide what information may or may not be clinically appropriate to share with different clients.

Tiffani Dilworth is a licensed clinical professional counselor and fellow in thanatology who has trained a wide range of organizations, including the U.S. Air Force chaplain team. Her experience at the intersection of grief, loss, and clinical practice informs her approach to ethical disclosure, grounding skills, self-care, and work-related boundaries for clinicians navigating their own seasons of grief.

Ms. Dilworth offers practical frameworks for assessing the purpose, timing, and potential impact of sharing personal information. You will explore how a client's unique needs, attachment patterns, and expectations of the therapy relationship influence whether disclosure helps or hinders their progress. The discussion also covers how to navigate direct personal questions, repair moments when sharing doesn't land as intended, and skillfully guide the focus back to the client.

Because grief can be unpredictably activated during a session, having immediate grounding strategies is essential. Drawing from Compassion-Focused Therapy, you will learn to navigate your own threat, drive, and soothing systems. Techniques like mindful movement, soothing rhythm breathing, and compassionate imagery will equip you to stay anchored in the present moment. Finally, the content extends beyond the therapy hour, offering guidance on recognizing your window of tolerance and setting sustainable, work-related boundaries as you transition back to your caseload.

Key Takeaways

• Ethical disclosure after loss: Learn how to think through when, why, and how much to share so that disclosure supports the therapeutic process rather than shifting attention away from the client.
• Grounding skills for triggered moments: Explore strategies such as soothing rhythm breathing, mindful movement, mindfulness of sound, soothing imagery, anchor phrases, and other tools that can help clinicians stay present in session.
• Boundaries for returning to work: Consider how schedule, caseload, support systems, office environment, and window of tolerance can guide a more sustainable return to clinical practice after a loss.

Why This Course?

• Clinical realism for grieving professionals: The training acknowledges that clinicians are human and may need support when personal grief intersects with client care.
• Clearer decision-making around disclosure: Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all rule, the course helps clinicians consider client needs, therapeutic purpose, boundaries, and clinical context.
• Practical tools for immediate use: Clinicians will leave with grounding, self-care, and boundary-setting strategies they can adapt before, during, and after sessions.

Learning Objectives

• Assess when and how to use self-disclosure in session with a client.
• List strategies when triggered in a session with a client.
• Illustrate effective work-related boundaries when returning to work after a loss.

Holding space for clients while grieving requires honesty, discernment, and care. This training offers clinicians a grounded way to navigate disclosure, manage in-session triggers, and return to work with boundaries that support both client care and clinician well-being. Register for the course to learn strategies you can apply during seasons of personal loss.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study program and consists of 1.5 hours of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Tiffani Dilworth, MA, LCPC

Miss Dilworth is a successful psychotherapist, author, and sought-after speaker on topics related to grief, PTSD, and sexual assault. Miss Dilworth earned her Master’s in Community Counseling from Oklahoma State University. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor specializing in grief and trauma and a Fellow in Thanatology.

She has worked across the US with various organizations, schools, universities, and corporations to bring awareness to the grieving process and to teach countless people how to live alongside their grief. In addition to facilitating trainings for the United States Air Force Chaplain Team, Miss Dilworth maintains a private practice and provides professional training for clinicians in need of CEs.

Drawing on her rich clinical experience, Ms. Dilworth incorporates the most current information on the process of grieving with evidence-based and innovative treatment techniques that clinicians can immediately use in their practice. She’s the author of the books 11 Tools to Help Manage the Aftermath of Trauma and Types of Grief, and the host of Managing My Grief Podcast.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours:

This course consists of 1.5 continuing education hour of credit.

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists:

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1.5 clinical continuing education credit.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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-0128.

Art Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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 Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 90 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This course is a non-interactive, online self-study.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement