Grief Across the Lifespan

Grief across the Lifespan:
Working with clients at different stages of life

Online via zoom – offered nationally across 4 half-days
2025 completed – Next workshops TBA

This existentially-informed workshop may be taken as stand-alone CPD or as part of an accreditation pathway*

Grief and loss in childhood are experienced in a markedly different context to what is experienced later in life. Perspectives on loss and change shift as our experiences of life and the world around us change from infancy through to older age. While it may seem obvious that grief and bereavement experienced in childhood happens in a different context to that of a person aged over seventy, it’s important for therapists, counsellors and support workers to consider these shifts in order to work effectively and empathically with grieving people at every age and stage of life.

Drawing on existential frames of reference and the theme of impermanence, this workshop will engage you with a unique blend of grief and developmental theories. It will offer you experiential learning and plenty of opportunity to explore effective and embodied ways to counsel, support and ‘be with’ clients at different points across the lifespan.

Across the 4 half-days you will be invited to consider:

Developmental aspects of early life from infancy to young adulthood
Attachment styles, life expectations and the experience of loss
Being with people in the context of their life-stage
Ways of approaching and integrating grief into a ‘time of life’ context

You will leave this workshop with:

Embodied and practical ways of supporting people of all ages to integrate experiences of loss and grief
A deeper understanding of how existential approaches are relevant and useful in facing change, loss and death at any life stage of human existence.
Greater confidence in your ability to build an authentic/empathic therapeutic relationship with human beings experiencing grief and loss, regardless of age – from young children through to older age adults

Facilitator: Dr Greg Roberts PhD, BSW (Hons), MAASW

Greg Roberts introduces this workshop as part of an existentially-informed series that is designed for practitioners wanting to develop their skills in the field of grief, loss and bereavement. The series is designed for both practitioners who are new to this field of practice and those that are experienced and wanting to add to their professional development in specific areas of grief, loss and bereavement. Other workshops in the Grief, Loss & Bereavement series include:

Stepping into the Heart of Grief and Loss – Working Beyond Models (introductory workshop): workshop details here
Working with Complex, Prolonged Grief – Addressing Crisis of Meaning and Existential Angst: workshop details here
Grief and Trauma – Working with sudden, unexpected loss: workshop details here
Anticipatory and Non-Finite Grief – Supporting Clients through Terminal/Chronic Illness, Injury and Disability : workshop details here
Grief and the Body – Working Holistically with Loss and Bereavement: workshop details here

*Accreditation Pathways

Completing the five 2-day Grief and Loss workshop series – which encompasses face-to-face workshop hours, readings and successful completion of two assessments – fulfills the grief and loss training component required for certification with:

Grief Australia – formerly Australian Centre for Grief & Bereavement (Australian certification)*
See full information on Grief Australia certification here

Association for Death Education and Counselling (International certification)*
See full information on ADEC certification here

*notes: Meeting the training criteria for ADEC entitles you to sit their certification exam. Certification is fee-based for both ACGB and ADEC

Greg Roberts PhD, BSW (Hons), MAASW

Greg holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Grief and Bereavement) and is an accredited Counsellor and Social Worker, providing counselling, supervision and education with a focus on grief, bereavement and trauma. Greg brings a strong interest in holistic approaches to the many and varied challenges in life. As an educator and trainer, he adopts an inductive and experiential approach, with the intention of creating a learning dialogue between himself and participants. Greg co-founded the Suicide Prevention Awareness Network (SPAN) in Victoria and is the Founder and Director of the Grief & Trauma Support service, based in Victoria, Australia.

ONLINE via ZOOM
Dates: 2025 completed – next workshops TBA
Time: 9.30am to 12.45pm AEST each day (15 minutes of break time each session are accommodated)
Location: online via zoom (registrants will receive an invitation to participate and all the details they require in advance of the date)
Cost: $480 (EB flat rate)
CPD Hours: 12

note to registrants:
if you have registered for other CEP online workshops the registration form will show checked boxes for those. That is your personal record, so please just check the box for this registration – you do not need to uncheck the others.