Understanding Grief and Adaptation to Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Description

Presenter:  Dr. Natalia Skritskaya

Dr. Skritskaya is a researcher at the Center for Complicated Grief, Columbia University and clinical psychologist in private practice. Her background is in cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders with an interest in mind-body connection. For the past decade Dr. Skritskaya has been helping people struggling with difficult losses and also trained clinicians in an evidence-based prolonged grief therapy. Her research is focused on assessment of typical bereavement-related thoughts and understanding their role in prolonged grief.

 Overview:

In this webinar, Dr. Natalia Skritskaya will describe a model of grief and adaptation to loss that is derived from clinical and experimental research. She will discuss the new diagnosis of Prolonged Grief Disorder and identify some unique challenges posed by a COVID loss and explain why bereavement during the pandemic is associated with increased risk for developing prolonged grief disorder (i.e. complicated grief). She will present a simple introductory-level approach to grief therapy, based on proven efficacious treatment for prolonged grief disorder.

Learning Objectives:

1. List two healing milestones and derailers.
2. Describe how these milestones and derailers relate to adapting to a loss.
3. Describe two ways that COVID-19 increases the risk for prolonged grief disorder.