Resilient Grieving After Disaster: Strategies for Navigating Loss and Fostering Recovery
Information
Date & Time
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Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Identify and explain the Principles of Resilient Grieving.
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Summarize the specific stressors related to short and long-term losses from disaster.
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Identify at least two strategies to help survivors develop adaptive coping mechanisms to rebuild their sense of efficacy and control in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
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Identify two approaches to foster personal resilience and enhance social connections, recognizing the role of community support in promoting recovery and reducing isolation.
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Explain how to guide survivors in identifying and engaging in activities that provide a sense of purpose, restore structure, and promote hope during the recovery process.
Educational Goal
The educational goal of this presentation is to deepen knowledge about resilient grieving.
Description
This presentation focuses on applying the principles of resilient grieving to support individuals and communities recovering from the widespread losses caused by natural disasters. Drawing on practical strategies for managing grief, fostering emotional and psychological resilience, and rebuilding connections, this training provides a comprehensive approach for mental health professionals to guide survivors in their recovery journey. By incorporating structured, evidence-based practices to promote adaptation and growth, the presentation builds on foundational disaster recovery skills while introducing new ways to deepen recovery and prepare for future challenges. Attendees will leave equipped with a cohesive strategy that integrates their prior knowledge into the nuanced process of helping survivors.
Target Audience
- Counselor
- Marriage & Family Therapist
- Psychologist
- Social Worker
- Substance Use Disorder Professionals
Presenters
Jenny Hughes, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and PTSD. She supports helpers and healers through the common experience of vicarious trauma as the founder of The BRAVE Trauma Therapist Collective. Jenny helps trauma therapists be human again as they learn how to manage vicarious trauma and enhance vicarious resilience together. As a clinician, she practices Brainspotting, EMDR, and Cognitive Processing Therapy. Jenny is the author of The PTSD Recovery Workbook and Triggers to Glimmers: A Vicarious Resilience Journal and Workbook.
LaDonna Carey, a licensed Senior Psychological Examiner, has over 35 years of experience specializing in attachment wounds, betrayal trauma, and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM). She earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology from East Tennessee State University in 1989, later returning as an adjunct instructor from 2014 to 2020.
Based in Kingsport, TN, LaDonna runs a private practice offering in-person and virtual therapy, with a focus on helping individuals and couples heal from betrayal trauma through personalized sessions and intensives. Trained in Partner Trauma Therapy and multiple couples therapy modalities—including Gottman (Level Two), Developmental Couples Therapy, Relational Life Therapy, Discernment Therapy, PACT, EFT, and IFS—she integrates trauma-informed approaches tailored to each client. She is also the author of Healing from Betrayal, a workbook for rediscovering Self after betrayal.
LaDonna provides continuing education for psychotherapists nationwide and, as a seasoned CISM responder, has supported industries such as manufacturing, banking, retail, and nuclear through crisis recovery and employee support.