Total Training Time: 2 Hours | CE Credit: 2 CE Hours | Format: Live on Zoom

Course Description

Providing grief support can be meaningful and deeply rewarding, but it can also contribute to emotional fatigue over time. This 2-hour continuing education session focuses on the importance of self-care and personal trauma stewardship for those supporting individuals impacted by grief and loss. Participants will explore how repeated exposure to trauma and grief narratives may affect the helping professional, including signs and symptoms of burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress. The session will emphasize realistic and sustainable self-care practices and ways to strengthen resilience within professional and personal contexts. Participants will leave with increased awareness of their own stress responses and an individualized approach to maintaining emotional well-being while continuing to provide compassionate care.

Target Audience & Instructional Level

This introductory training is open to mental health professionals, educators, healthcare providers, school-based support staff, social service professionals, and other helping professionals who provide grief support and are at risk for secondary stress related to their work. This session is designed for individuals seeking practical strategies to sustain their well-being while supporting others through loss and trauma.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Identify signs and symptoms of burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress related to grief support work.
2. Develop practical and sustainable self-care strategies to support professional resilience and long-term trauma stewardship.

Presentation Schedule: 2 Hours (2 CE Hours | APA-Approved & NBCC Approved)

Hour 1: Understanding burnout, compassion fatigue, and trauma exposure (1 CE)

• The emotional impact of grief support and trauma exposure
• Burnout vs. compassion fatigue vs. secondary traumatic stress
• Warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors
• Professional boundaries and the cost of over-functioning

Hour 2: Building sustainable self-care and personal trauma stewardship (1 CE)

• Creating a realistic self-care plan (physical, emotional, relational, and professional)
• Regulation strategies and restorative practices
• Maintaining boundaries and building supportive systems
• Brief reflection activity, Q&A, and implementation planning