The goals of attachment-informed adolescent grief therapy incorporate the important processes of empathic attunement, neural integration via the mirroring of neural connection, affect regulation, and constructing and maintaining continuing bonds with the deceased. Viewing adolescent loss and grief through the lens of attachment informs the therapeutic work to move toward re-regulation and a healthy adaptation to loss and grief. Effective attachment-informed approaches, techniques, and interventions applied to grieving adolescents help to mitigate the long-term effects of adolescent loss and grief experiences. These approaches are individualized to each adolescent’s specific attachment style and take into consideration the therapist’s attachment style. This 3-hour workshop will utilize break-out rooms for participants to practice techniques specific to this approach.
About the Presenter:
Pamela A. Malone, Ph.D., LCSW-S, Fellow in Thanatology (she/her/hers) is the Clinical Director at The Austin Center for Grief & Loss. Her clinical experience spans over 30 years in a variety of settings. During this time, she has provided grief therapy to adolescents as well as written about and presented on this topic. Dr. Malone wrote Counseling Adolescents through Loss, Grief, and Trauma published by Routledge and available at Amazon.
Objectives, participants will be able to:
1. Participants will be able to describe normative grief responses from a developmental perspective
2. Participants will be able to identify ways grieving adolescents exhibit dysregulation and destabilization
3. Participants will be able to utilize effective attachment-informed approaches to working with grieving adolescents
4. Participants will be able to apply specific techniques and interventions to grieving adolescents based on the adolescent’s specific attachment style
