The Montgomery Hospice Bereavement Care Team Conference

Lessons of Loss:
Grief and the Quest for Meaning

with
Robert A. Neimeyer, Ph.D.
was held on Friday, November 7, 2008
at The Universities at Shady Grove Conference and Event Center in Rockville

On a bright and beautiful fall day, over 230 professionals gathered at the Universities at Shady Grove Conference Center in Rockville to listen to the presentation by Dr. Robert A. Neimeyer. The registrants consisted of social workers, chaplains, psychologists, psychotherapists, students and volunteers. They represented hospices, hospitals, faith groups and retirement communities. Over half of the attendees received professional CEUs (Continuing Education Units). Many used the conference as an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues.

Dr. Neimeyer is an internationally known expert on grief and loss and is actively involved in research. His areas of study include complicated grief and grieving as a meaning-making process. He used research, statistics and individual cases to inform conference participants. He also actively involved the audience, taking questions and encouraging sharing of thoughts and ideas from the expert professionals in the room. His talk left many wishing for a longer conference, but his books and the information on his website will be a valuable source of supplemental materials.

Montgomery Hospice would like to thank Dr. Neimeyer for traveling to Maryland to share his expertise and also thank all who attended and participated in this conference.

Montgomery Hospice thanks our benefactors and sponsors for making this conference possible.

Foundation Benefactor:
Healthcare Initiative Foundation

Other Benefactors:
Francis J. Collins Funeral Home, Inc.
Going Home Cremation Service
Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, Inc.
Robert A. Pumphrey Funeral Homes
Rapp Funeral and Cremation Services
Simple Tribute Funeral and Cremation Center
Snowden Funeral Home, P.A.

Sponsors:
Danzansky-Goldberg Memorial Chapel and Edward Sagel Funeral Direction
DeVol Funeral Home
Muriel H. Barber Funeral Home
Rapp Funeral and Cremation Services

Program Details: Long after the immediate emotional impact of a loss has faded, the death of someone close to us can disrupt the assumptions that allow us to make meaning of life. In this workshop, participants will learn methods that will enable them to listen beneath the story that clients tell themselves and others about their loss, to help clients explore more deeply the felt experience of that loss and its implications for their self-narrative. This conference will examine various forms of narrative disruption triggered by loss and explore how we can help clients find the seeds of restoration and future growth. Citing new models and findings concerning the diverse paths through grief, participants will practice strategies for facilitating the reconstruction of meaning in the context of grief therapy.

Objectives for this Conference:
Participants will be able to:

• Identify five adaptive and maladaptive trajectories through bereavement
• Specify three forms of narrative disruption triggered by loss
• List four propositions of a meaning reconstruction model
• Use the Life Imprint method as an adjunct to grief therapy

Flow of the Conference
8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Registration and continental breakfast
9:00 - 9:45 a.m. Trajectories through bereavement
9:45 - 10:45 a.m. Human beings as meaning-makers
10:45 - 11:15 a.m. Break with brunch (vegan and other) sandwiches
11:15 - 12:00 noon Strengthening the continuing bond
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Rewriting stories of loss
1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Questions and Discussion

Presenter: Dr. Robert Neimeyer
Robert A. Neimeyer, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of Psychotherapy Research in the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, where he also maintains an active clinical practice. Since completing his doctoral training at the University of Nebraska in 1982, he has published 20 books, including Meaning Reconstruction and the Experience of Loss, and Lessons of Loss: A Guide to Coping, and serves as Editor of the journal, Death Studies. The author of over 300 articles and book chapters, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process, both in his published work and through his frequent professional workshops for national and international audiences. Dr. Neimeyer served as a member of the American Psychological Association's Task Force on End-of-Life Issues, and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. He has received numerous professional awards.

Continuing Education Units:

Board of Social Work Examiners of the State of Maryland: 4 CEUs, Category I

Maryland State Board of Morticians: 4 CEUs

Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists: 4 CEUs, Category A

State of Maryland Board of Examiners of Psychologists: 4 CEUs

Association of Professional Chaplains will accept the certificate of attendance for chaplains reporting continuing education (no fee for certificate of attendance).