Los Angeles County Psychological Association

Special Virtual Pandemic Program

A Tsunami of Grief: Coping with Loss During a Pandemic

Presented by Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom        2.5 LIVE CE Credits 

Advanced Learning Level

Free for Members and Non-members  

Space is Limited       Click Here to RSVP

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a health psychologist and certified bereavement facilitator. She works with chronic illness, grief and loss, medical trauma, and health anxiety. She is the author of Moving Through Grief: Proven Techniques for Finding Your Way After Any Loss and The PCOS Mood Cure: Your Guide to Ending the Emotional Roller Coaster. Dr. Kubacky is the Editor of The Los Angeles Psychologist, and a member of the LACPA Board of Directors.


The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in rapid changes to social functioning, psychotherapy, and the grief process. Psychologists are called upon to provide hope and guidance to our clients while experiencing our own health anxiety, financial losses, and limitations of our energy and ability to help. Psychologists will receive an overview of grief therapy theory and practice, and recommendations for incorporating the existential issues, multiple losses, and anticipatory grief that characterize this unusual time.

If you unexpectedly find yourself serving as a grief therapist, this presentation will help you feel more confident in your skills and knowledge about working with bereavement and loss of all kinds. COVID-19 has created a cascade of job loss, business loss, financial losses, loss of health, and of course, loss of life – often simultaneously. People are experiencing dramatic role changes, shifts in environment, and a loss of freedom. We’ll review different types of grief, the invisible losses that clients may be experiencing, such as loss of control and autonomy, as well as some of the lesser known signs and symptoms of grief. While not everyone has the same experience of grieving, which is a highly individualized process, there is a tremendous opportunity to use what is happening in the moment to facilitate growth and change, particularly as it relates to experiences and beliefs about health, safety, and security. Through a focus on diving into the overwhelm, and shifting to gratitude, mindfulness, celebration, hope, and anticipation, you will be able to assist clients in creating meaning out of difficult experiences. The tools and approaches are compatible with any theoretical orientation. 

Attendees will be able to:

1) Define at least three different forms of loss.

 2) Apply mindfulness techniques to the process of bereavement therapy. 

3) Describe the typical emotional states clients may experience while grieving.

4) List the lesser known symptoms of grief.

Program subject to change.

6345 Balboa Blvd., Bldg 2, Suite 126,  Encino, CA   91316

818-905-0401    [email protected]   www.lacpa.org

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