LUNCH & LEARN'S on Zoom
Children Bereavement Center's Lunch & Learn series is offered FREE for community champions and mental health professionals. Each session offers training, resources and Q&A. CE Credit available for a fee for mental health professionals with licenses in Florida.
August 7, 2024: Understanding & Assisting LGBTQ+ Grievers (Part 2)
May 23, 2024: Gender + Grief + Sexuality + Loss: Supporting Queer Youth in Their Bereavement Journeys (Part 1)
Jan 23, 2024: Healing Hearts: Mindfulness in Grief
Children's Bereavement Center held a transformative mindfulness session for a Lunch & Learn on Zoom on January 18, 2024. Mindfulness is a powerful tool in fostering emotional resilience and promoting overall well-being. This interactive session will explore the impact of mindfulness and the invaluable benefits it can bring to those navigating loss. Participants will leave equipped with practical mindfulness techniques to cultivate healing, find solace, and foster a renewed sense of well-being on their grief journey.
Presenters: Dorlie Banbanaste and Amanda Ramirez, LPC,NCC
Nov 30th, 2023: SUPPORTING GRIEVING INDIVIDUALS OF ALL ABILITIES
This presentation focused on the impact, challenges, and joys that accompany supporting young grievers with disabilities. In this session, our guest presenter, Jennifer Wiles, LMHC, BC-DMT, covered:
- Sharing specific case examples and practice techniques to support grieving individuals
- Addressing issues and questions and looking at ways to care for ourselves as we strive to create inclusive
- Welcoming, and informed grief support programs in our communities
- Review techniques on how to best support individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities who are grieving.
About the Speaker: Jennifer Wiles, MA, LMHC, BC-DMT is the director of HEARTplay, a bereavement program for children, teens, and young adults at Good Shepherd Community Care in Newton, MA. Her current project, Expanding the Language of Grief, focuses on providing access to compassionate grief support services to people of all abilities. She is also the director of Camp Erin Boston, now in its tenth year, supporting grieving youth and families. Jennifer has taught nationally and internationally on the topic of children’s grief. Jennifer is a board-certified dance movement therapist/licensed mental health counselor on the adjunct faculty at Lesley University’s Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences, where she is also a clinical site supervisor. Jennifer is an active member of The National Alliance for Children’s Grief, where she serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the Education Committee.
Sep 28, 2023: Before & After A Loss Due to Suicide
CBC partnered with NAMI Miami-Dade County for a Lunch & Learn with the topic: Before & After - A Loss Due to Suicide. This session explored suicidality and preventative measures during Suicide Prevention Month. It also touches on the impacts of losing a loved one to suicide and how it can complicate the grief process. In this session, participants will learn about:
- Preventative measures to help recognize warning signs of suicide
- How to talk to someone about suicide
- Explore the unique impacts of suicide loss on families and explore ways to support them after this traumatic loss.
Presenters: Julissa Reynoso, LMHC, and Rev. Lisa LeSueur
June 29, 2023: Finding a Safe Space to Grieve: Special Considerations for LGBTQ+ Grief.
Topics for this session include:
- The unique aspects of grief as experienced by the LGBTQ+ community
- The challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community that contribute to distinct forms of grief, including discrimination, health disparities, violence, and minority stress;
- The significance of unique losses within the LGBTQ+ community, such as the loss of a chosen family and experiences of disenfranchised grief
- The vital role of allies in providing support to grieving individuals in the LGBTQ+ community.
Presenter: Daniel Sheridan, PhD | Clinical and Training Advisor
May 11, 2023: Healing Through Music: Using Music to Foster Hope and Resilience when Grieving
CBC collaborated with NAMI of Palm Beach to examine the advantages of using music in coping with grief after a loss. You can listen to the CBC Certified Music Therapists and discover how the attendees engaged in a live music activity that illustrates the healing power of music.
February 8, 2023: Grief & Loss on the Autism Spectrum
This training strives to raise awareness of the unique ways that individuals on the autism spectrum experience and express grief and grief symptoms. It will also provide clinicians/professionals with straightforward ways to support the grief needs of children and adults on the spectrum. Attendees will be educated on the key myths, gaps, and stereotypes about those with autism and how these gaps and challenges may impact the experience of grief and loss. Finally, it will highlight the grief needs of those with dual vulnerability (members of multiple oppressed groups), such as those in unique/diverse/minority populations who have ASD.
Presenter: Jessica Curd, LCSW
December 8, 2022: Understanding Grief Expression in Haitian Communities During the Holidays
In this session, you will gain a deeper understanding of how to assess, identify, and process grief with Haitian clients and families. While grief is a common emotion, we will explore the ways in which culture plays into how it is expressed, understood, and managed. We will also touch on how to help clients manage grief during the holiday season.
Presenter: Dr. Christine Sainvil
CONVERSATIONS WITH CBC
CBC hosts complimentary online programs in the evening every other month revolving around various topics to have an open conversation about grief and other topics as well as sessions around Self Care.
Dec 18, 2023: Creative Holiday Activities to Honor Your Loved Ones
This online workshop allows you to partake in some fun activities to honor your loved ones, such as a Memory Candle and a Grief Music Playlist. You just need a piece of paper and a pencil!
Presenter: Karina Luis | Program and Training Coordinator
Nov 16, 2023: Connecting Health, Nutrition and Grief
On Give Miami Day & Children's Grief Awareness Day, CBC held a conversation to discuss Health, Nutrition, and Grief. We will go over the physical symptoms of grief and the benefits of implementing healthy physical and nutritional habits to help manage these symptoms. This one-hour event showcases a grief expert, nutritionist and yoga instructor who will provide information on how we can care for ourselves while grieving:
- Learn about healthy nutrition and tips to maintain proper health when experiencing difficult emotions due to grief
- Yoga movement can reduce anxiety, depression, and stress, and through this session, we can learn how to use this physical activity to take care of ourselves.
The activities are appropriate for anyone and can be adjusted for the individual.
Guest Speakers: Greg Nardi, E-RYT 500, Yoga 4 Change | Becky Holmes, MS, RDN, LDN, 500-RYT, Cultivate WNC | Julissa Reynoso, LMHC, Children's Bereavement Center
May 9, 2023: SOUND BATH & MEDITATION WITH CBC
A night of inner healing in an immersive experience for the body and mind. A sound bath is a meditative practice that has existed for thousands of years. It incorporates crystal singing bowls and other soothing instruments, creating deep vibrations that will wash over you, aligning your energy centers and intentions to relax, heal, and decompress. Those who have participated in sound baths have experienced a soothing effect on the mind and body and also help ease symptoms for many conditions, including chronic pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Presenter: LaCriscia Fowlkes | CBC and Healing Arts Practitioner
March 21, 2023: Chair Yoga with CBC
CBC hosted a night of wellness and relaxation. Check out this session of yoga exercises and poses that will allow you to stretch, move, and connect with your body from a comfortable position.
Presenter: Krista Miller | with Yoga Instructor of Unahu Healing Arts.
November 17, 2022: Conversation with the Producers/Screenwriters of the movie Dear Zoe and CBC
On November 4th, 2022, the film Dear Zoe was released. It is a film that focuses on themes of love, loss, grief, and resilience. The Children's Bereavement Center (FL) hosted a conversation with Marc and Brenda, Screenwriters and Producers of Dear Zoe, on November 17th for Children's Grief Awareness Day and Give Miami Day.
October 6, 2022: Cultivating a Practice of Self-Care
A night of self-care! We will explore the benefits of incorporating everyday self-care strategies as part of your healing journey. We engaged in a few exercises to help instill an important practice of self-love and self-compassion… including brief sessions on:
- Mindfulness
- Relaxation / Breathing
- Chair yoga
- Followed by Q&A
Presenter: Julissa Reynoso, LMHC | Amanda Ramirez, LPC, NCC | Leah Ackerman, RMHCI
September 28, 2022: Breathing Through Grief
Breathwork can help reduce stress, increase alertness, and boost your immune system. This breathwork session is designed to connect to self and your innermost feelings and intentions with this mindfulness experience.
Presenter: LaCriscia Fowlkes, MBA, MSSM with Rooted In Love and Truth
June 23, 2022: Grief in the LGBTQ+ Community
This presentation is about CBC grief support groups offering a friendly and supportive setting for LGBTQ+ individuals experiencing grief related to loss. It also addresses:
Disenfranchised Grief
Specific considerations for grief among LGBTQ+ individuals
How to support a grieving individual who is part of the LGBTQ+ community
Information about the Children’s Bereavement Center and our free virtual grief support groups.
Presenter: Dr. Daniel Sheridan | CBC Clinical Director
October 10, 2012: Walking with Grief
Mindy Cassel speaks at TEDxCoconutGrove at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Florida, about her observations that the loss of a loved one is not something we should get over or move past, but instead, something we must integrate into our lives. Mindy is a licensed psychologist and thanatologist and the co-founder and CEO of the Children's Bereavement Center (CBC). The CBC provides free peer support to children, teens, and adults (18 years and older) and their families after the loss of a loved one. Mindy came to this work after 25 years of studying and working with individuals and families who experienced traumatic illness, accidents, and significant life transitions. Her doctoral dissertation was on the study of attachment and loss, which gave her the theoretical underpinnings to do her current work.
