Grief Across the Lifespan

Marian University's Ancilla College

The death of a family member or close friend is a life-changing experience for children, adolescents, and adults alike. The grief that accompanies bereavement impacts people’s daily lives, relationships, and sense of happiness and fulfillment. Human service and healthcare professionals encounter bereaved individuals in a variety of care settings and have a unique opportunity to provide understanding and support. 

 

This training workshop will provide a context for understanding childhood, adolescent, and adult bereavement. This workshop will explore the impact of grief on individuals’ lives and offer insight into modes of support. Family adaptive tasks after a death will be discussed, along with ethical considerations when providing support to bereaved individuals. This workshop will share techniques, tools, and practical ideas for supporting bereaved people of all ages as they navigate the challenges that grief brings to their lives.

 

Objective #1 - Participants will learn a model for understanding the nature of grief and how grief manifests the lives of people of all ages.

Objective #2 - Participants will increase their knowledge about factors that impact grief in children, adolescents, and adults and be able to identify these factors within populations they serve.

Objective #3 - Participants will learn family adaptive tasks after a death loss and how to incorporate these tasks into the care they provide to bereaved populations.

Objective #4 - Participants will learn supportive techniques and tools that are effective in supporting bereaved populations of all ages.

Objective #5 - Participants will increase their understanding of ethical considerations when working with bereaved populations of all ages.

Andy McNiel, MA, is an author, trainer, and grief support professional in the bereavement support field. Andy has many years of experience providing counseling and offering support groups to children, teenagers, and adults grieving the death of someone in their life. He has also served in non-profit leadership within the bereavement field in a variety of settings throughout his career. He is a co-founder and an executive partner with The Satori Group, LLC, a national education, management, and consulting company, providing education and consultation to bereavement support and end of life non-profit organizations. He has served as the Chief Executive Officer for The National Alliance for Grieving Children, the Executive Director for The Amelia Center at Children’s of Alabama, and the Director of Grief Counseling Services and Director of Development for Hospice of Martin and St. Lucie (now Treasure Health) in South Florida. In his current work with The Satori Group, Andy serves as Senior Advisor to Youth Programs for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Advisor to Programs for HealGrief and Actively Moving Forward, and Consultant and Advisor for The Compassionate Friends.

 

He is the author of Understanding and Supporting Bereaved Children: A Practical Guide for Professionals as well as numerous book chapters. He has served as a consultant to non-profits across the United States, providing strategic planning, fundraising support, board management, and organizational development. Andy lectures extensively on support group facilitation, grief and bereavement, non-profit management, and leadership. He provides inspirational keynote presentations for professionals and the community alike. He is a trainer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and is a member of the International Workgroup on Death, Dying, and Bereavement. Andy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Palm Beach Atlantic University and a Master of Arts in Counseling from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is married, has two adult daughters and a fourteen-year-old son. He resides in Jensen Beach, Florida.